(Brussels, Belgium) – The European Commission has opened the third auction of its hydrogen bank. The total budget is €1,3 billion. The funds are intended to support the production of renewable non-biological fuels (RFNBO), including hydrogen producers with maritime or aviation-related customers. Projects selected in the auction will receive support in the form of a fixed premium for verified and certified hydrogen production for a maximum period of ten years. Bids will be valued in euros per kilogram of hydrogen produced.
Another 1,3 billion for German projects
Furthermore, Member States can again allocate national funds through the "Auctions-as-a-Service" program to support projects that have met the evaluation criteria but were not selected due to limited funding. Germany and Spain have already confirmed their participation.
The German government is providing an additional €1,3 billion. The aim, according to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, is to supply customers connected to the German core hydrogen network with renewable hydrogen as efficiently as possible. Furthermore, the funding is intended to "create incentives for the development of a cross-border hydrogen pipeline infrastructure, which otherwise could not be realized or would be significantly delayed, and through which hydrogen will also be imported in the future, driven by market demand." Within the framework of the German "Auction-as-a-Service" window of the auction, the renewable hydrogen must be fed into the "Danish Hydrogen Backbone 1" pipeline and delivered to customers connected to the German core hydrogen network.
According to the European Commission, Spain is providing a total of €465 million this time, of which €415 million is earmarked for hydrogen projects. No information is yet available regarding any additional national funding from other countries. Germany, Spain, Lithuania, and Austria already participated in the previous two auctions.
1,7 billion euros for hydrogen funding
In the first auction of the European Hydrogen Bank, the European Commission approved around €720 million for seven renewable hydrogen projects in 2024. The second auction was four times oversubscribed. Of 61 bids submitted for projects in eleven countries, 15 projects from five countries were announced in May of this year, receiving a total of €992 million; this is supplemented by national funding from each country. To date, the Innovation Fund has awarded a total of over €15,8 billion in support for more than 275 projects through its various calls for proposals.
Additional funding for emission-free technology
Simultaneously with the hydrogen auction, the Commission announced two further funding opportunities under the Innovation Fund: The “Net-Zero Technologies” (NZT) call has a budget of 2,9 billion euros and covers projects that focus on the production of components for renewable energies, energy storage, heat pumps and hydrogen production, as well as electric vehicle batteries.
The first auction for the decarbonization of industrial process heat will allocate one billion euros to support electrified and direct heat generation from renewable energy sources. The funds will go to projects that can deliver the most cost-effective CO2 reduction.
Hydrogen auction ends in February
Bidders can submit their proposals for the hydrogen auction until February 19, 2026. The heat auction also runs until February 19. The NTZ call for proposals ends on April 26, 2026. Successful bidders are expected to sign grant agreements within nine months of the call's conclusion.
Information and documents are available on the "Funding & Tenders" portal. An information day on the third hydrogen auction will be held on December 10, 2025, starting at 2:30 p.m., and will also be available via live stream. Information and registration are available until December 9, 5:00 p.m., on the EU website.
Photos
The European Hydrogen Bank is launching its third auction. © EU Commission / Christophe Licoppe
