EU awards over $1.2 billion to European hydrogen projects
In Belgium, the European Commission has selected nine hydrogen production projects under the third auction of the European Hydrogen Bank (EHB). Across seven countries in the European Economic Area, the projects are expected to provide almost 1.1 giga-watts of electrolyzer capacity and produce over 1.3 million tons of hydrogen over their first 10 years of operation, with an estimated greenhouse gas emissions avoidance of 9 million tons of CO2 equivalent.
The selected projects will receive a total of around $1.27 billion in EU funding from the Innovation Fund, sourced from the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). The produced hydrogen will help reduce emissions from energy-intensive industries such as transport and chemicals.
The auction awards successful projects with a subsidy to help cover the price difference between their production costs and the market price. The objective is to incentivize clean hydrogen production and use.
The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) will start the formal preparation of grant agreements with the selected projects. This step will confirm the final conditions of the financial support, including the awarded fixed premium per kilogram of hydrogen and the implementation timeline. Agreements are expected to be signed in the last quarter of 2026.
The selected projects will have to reach financial close within two and a half years of grant signature and enter into operation within five years.
Category: Hydrogen
