In Belgium, the European Commission announced the selection of 15 renewable hydrogen production projects for public funding across the European Economic Area (EEA). The projects, located across five countries, are expected to produce nearly 2.2 million tons of renewable hydrogen over ten years, avoiding more than 15 million tons of CO2 emissions. The hydrogen will be produced in sectors such as transportation, the chemical industry, or the production of methanol and ammonia. They will receive a total of $1.12 million in EU funding, from the Innovation Fund sourced from the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). The winning bidders, awarded after the second European Hydrogen Bank (EHB) auction, will produce the renewable hydrogen in Europe with a subsidy that will help to close the price difference between their production costs and the market price and accelerate the deployment of cleaner fuels. The selected projects will now be invited to prepare their grant agreement with the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Agreements are expected to be signed by September/October 2025. Signed projects are required to reach financial close within a maximum of two and a half years after signature and to start producing renewable hydrogen within a period of 5 years, the commission said.
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