(Brussels / Belgium) – Fifteen projects from five countries will receive a total of €992 million in EU funding from the Innovation Fund for the production of renewable hydrogen in Europe. The winners prevailed against 46 competitors in the second auction held by the European Hydrogen Bank. A total of 61 bids from eleven countries were received, making the auction four times oversubscribed.
The selected projects are located in Spain (8), Germany (2), Finland (1), and the Netherlands (1). Companies submitted bids ranging from €0,20 to €0,60 per kilogram of hydrogen produced. In the first auction in 2023, the range was €0,37 to €0,48. This time, three projects from Norway for the maritime sector are also being considered. (** Calculation basis: 6,84 tonnes CO2e/tH2, excluding additional carbon reductions due to substitution effects in the H2 end-use application.) © EU Commission
The grants range from eight to 246 million euros over a period of ten years. Twelve projects will receive a fixed premium of between 0,20 and 0,60 euros per kilogram. For the first time, the auction also provided special funds for hydrogen producers with customers in the maritime sector. Three bids were selected for this purpose and will receive grants of 96,7 million euros. These projects will receive between 0,45 and 1,88 euros per kilogram. The companies aim to produce almost 2,2 million tons of certified renewable hydrogen within ten years and avoid more than 15 million tons of CO2 emissions. The subsidies are intended to help close the price gap between their production costs and the market price and accelerate the use of clean fuels. The hydrogen will be used in sectors such as transport, the chemical industry, and for the production of methanol and ammonia.
Deutsche Regas GmbH & Co. KGaA is receiving €112 million in funding from the EU to produce green hydrogen in a planned large-scale electrolysis plant in the industrial port of Lubmin (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania). The first expansion phase of the "H2 Hub Lubmin" is scheduled to go into operation in the second half of 2026 with a capacity of 200 megawatts (MW). A further 300 MW are to follow in the second expansion phase starting in 2028. In the first phase, approximately 30.000 tons of green hydrogen can be produced per year, and in the second expansion phase, a total of approximately 80.000 tons per year can be produced. © Deutsche Regas GmbH & Co. KGaA
In parallel, Spain, Lithuania, and Austria are providing a cumulative additional €836 million in national funding for projects in their countries through the "Auctions-as-a-Service" feature. This allows Member States to identify and finance eligible projects in their territory that meet the auction's eligibility criteria but cannot be financed through the Innovation Fund due to budget constraints. "Auctions-as-a-Service" is open to all Member States, allowing them to benefit from the EU-level auction platform and allocate additional national funding through a simplified process.
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The selected projects will now prepare their grant agreement with the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Contracts are expected to be signed by September/October 2025. The companies must then achieve financial closure within the next two and a half years and begin producing renewable hydrogen within five years.
A third auction of the European Hydrogen Bank, with a budget of up to one billion euros, is planned for the end of 2025. The Commission also announced that it will soon activate the "Hydrogen Mechanism," an online platform that will bring buyers and sellers together, allowing market participants to exchange information and find potential business partners.
The Innovation Fund's total budget is approximately €40 billion. The funds originate from the EU Emissions Trading System for the period 2020 to 2030. The European Hydrogen Bank facilitates the EU's domestic production and import of renewable hydrogen, which is classified as a renewable non-biological fuel (RFNBO) and produced using renewable electricity. At the first auction in 2023, the Innovation Fund awarded grants totaling almost €700 million to six projects. At that time, Germany was the first country to support "Auctions as a Service," contributing €350 million.
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Fifteen projects receive EU funding for hydrogen production. © © EU Commission / Bogdan Hoyaux
