Over-subscribed European Hydrogen Bank auction receives 61 bids for Innovation Fund support, including 8 maritime projects

The European Hydrogen Bank’s second auction for the production of renewable hydrogen has attracted 61 bids from projects in 11 countries with the European Economic Area (EEA) . Eight of the bids were submitted under the dedicated maritime topic by hydrogen producers with off-takers in the maritime sector.

The total grant support requested is more than €4.8 billion, four times the available budget of €1.2 billion provided by the Innovation Fund.

All bids taken together account for a total electrolyser capacity of around 6.3 Gigawatts (GWe). Over ten years, these projects would produce more than 7.3 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen. On a yearly basis, this would cover 7% of the EU’s REPowerEU ambition for domestic renewable hydrogen production in 2030.

Wopke Hoekstra, Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth, said: “The amount of bids in this second auction under the European Hydrogen Bank again shows the attractiveness of the Innovation Fund as a tool for Europe’s industrial decarbonisation and competitiveness. This continued appetite from our industry reinforces the development of a European market for clean hydrogen. As a key driver of our goal to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, hydrogen plays a crucial role in cutting emissions from hard-to-abate sectors. It will strengthen Europe’s industrial leadership in emerging clean technologies, ensuring long-term economic resilience and global competitiveness.”

Producers of renewable hydrogen, as defined in the Renewable Energy Directive and its Delegated Acts,

have submitted bids for support in the form of a fixed premium per kilogram of renewable hydrogen produced over a period of up to 10 years. The premium, for which project promoters bid in the auction, covers the gap between the cost of production and the price buyers are currently willing to pay for renewable hydrogen.

EU Member States can also benefit from an “Auctions-as-a-service” mechanism, whereby the results of the auction can attract further national funding for additional projects, in full respect of the EU State aid rules. Under the second auction of the European Hydrogen Bank, Spain, Lithuania, and Austria

have participated in this scheme, as announced in November 2024, with the contribution of up to €836 million in national funds. The Commission invites other Member States to take advantage of this service.

Next Steps

The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA)

is now evaluating submitted bids on the pass/fail qualification criteria outlined in the call text. All passing bids will then be ranked according to their bid price. CINEA plans to inform about the evaluation results by the end of May 2025 and successful applicants will be invited to prepare and sign corresponding Grant Agreements.

The Grant Agreements are expected to be signed by November 2025 at the latest. The selected projects will have to reach financial close within 2.5 years and start producing renewable hydrogen within five years of signing the grant agreement. They will receive the awarded fixed premium subsidy for up to 10 years upon certified and verified renewable hydrogen production.

In parallel to finalising the evaluation, the Commission will draw on the lessons learned from this second auction to prepare the Terms & Conditions for a third auction for hydrogen, which it aims to launch before the end of 2025.