The European Commission on Thursday 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 electrolyser capacity and produce over 1.3 million tonnes of hydrogen over their first 10 years of operation, with an estimated greenhouse gas emissions avoidance of 9 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
The selected projects will receive a total of around €1.09 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 projects are expected to strengthen Europe’s industrial leadership, long-term competitiveness and jobs, and contribute to EU’s clean transition, energy independence and security.
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 incentivise clean hydrogen production and use. Upon signature of their grant agreements, the nine selected projects will receive a fixed premium of between €0.57 and €3.49 per kilogramme of certified and verified hydrogen produced, for a maximum period of 10 years.
The selected projects under the renewable hydrogen fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO) General topic:
| Project Name | Coordinator | Country | Bid Volume (hydrogen kilotonne over 10 years) | Bid Capacity (Megawatts electric) | Expected GHG avoidance* (kilotonnes of CO2 equivalent over 10 years) | Bid Price (EUR/kg) |
| AN-1-B | HELLENIC HYDROGEN A.E. | Greece | 38,654 | 25 MWe | 264.39 | €0.57 |
| T2X | TURN2X Asset Co II EXTREMADURA SL | Spain | 6,390 | 9 MWe | 43.71 | €0.62 |
| NJK | MorGen | Denmark | 445,000 | 300 MWe | 3,043.80 | €0.95 |
| ALBA | Hy2gen Nordic AS | Denmark | 144,118 | 100 MWe | 985.77 | €0.97 |
| Hy4IND | Wiener Wasserstoff GmbH | Austria | 3,036 | 5 MWe | 20.77 | €0.98 |
List of selected projects under the RFNBO Low Carbon topic:
| Project Name | Coordinator | Country | Bid Volume (hydrogen kilotonne over 10 years) | Bid Capacity (Megawatts electric) | Expected GHG avoidance* (kilotonnes of CO2 equivalent over 10 years) | Bid Price (EUR/kg) |
| Cloudberry | Vetyalfa Oy | Finland | 508,915 | 500 MWe | 3,481 | €0.44 |
| Lotse | Lotse | Germany | 140,554 | 120 MWe | 964.5 | €1.10 |
List of selected projects under the Maritime-Aviation topic:
| Project Name | Coordinator | Country | Bid Volume (hydrogen kilotonne over 10 years) | Bid Capacity (Megawatts electric) | Expected GHG avoidance* (kilotonnes of CO2 equivalent over 10 years) | Bid Price (EUR/kg) |
| Gen2-LH2 | Gen2 Energy AS | Norway | 17,886 | 12 MWe | 122.34 | €3.48 |
| RogalandH2 | GREEN H AS | Norway | 17,700 | 12.5 MWe | 121.07 | €3.49 |
* For RFNBO H2 volumes, calculated based on the 2021-2025 ETS benchmark of 6.84 tons CO2e/tH2, not taking into account additional carbon abatement due to substitution effects in the H2 end use application (i.e. conservative estimate). Any electrolytic low carbon hydrogen production volumes are assumed to avoid the minimum of 70% of emissions compared with the fossil fuel comparator.
The auction allocates financial support through a competitive bidding process, designed to maximise GHG emission reductions while supporting market price discovery. Projects were ranked according to their bid price, reflecting the level of support required per kilogram of clean hydrogen produced. Following an assessment of their eligibility and quality, the projects were selected in ascending order of bid price until the available Innovation Fund budget was fully allocated.
In addition, Spain and Germany are participating through the Auctions-as-a-Service feature, adding a further €1.7 billion in national funds. This enables Member States to use national resources to support projects in their own territories that have applied to the auction. This feature reduces administrative burden and ensures a coordinated and cost-efficient allocation of public support across Europe. Germany will support RFNBO hydrogen production with up to €1.3 billion, and Spain will contribute up to €440 million. Projects placed on the Innovation Fund reserve list that fall within the budget made available by participating Member States, and in line with the overall ranking order, may be transferred to the relevant national authorities to begin grant agreement preparations. This possibility will be offered to three projects located in Spain and three located in Denmark. ‘Auctions-as-a-service’ is open to all Member States, enabling them to benefit from the EU-level auction platform and award national funding to additional projects with simplified procedure.
