Posted on 11 Mar 2025
The second European Hydrogen Bank (EHB) auction has drawn 61 bids, four times the €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) allocated budget, the European Commission revealed Friday.
The bids requested total grant support of over €4.8 billion to produce more than 7.3 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen from 6.3 gigawatts of electrolysers, Kallanish notes.
Of this, eight bids were submitted under the newly-introduced maritime topic, where the green hydrogen and its derivatives will be used in the maritime sector. Of the total budget, €200 million is dedicated to this basket.
The scheme offers producers a fixed-price premium of up to €4 per kilogram of hydrogen produced over 10 years. The winning projects will have 2.5 years to reach financial close and five years to begin hydrogen production.
“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,” comments Wopke Hoekstra, commissioner for climate, net zero and clean growth. “This continued appetite from our industry reinforces the development of a European market for clean hydrogen.”
However, the first auction received nearly double the number of bids at 132. It also had a higher ceiling price of €4.5/kg.
“Revelation in the sector over the past years should mean bids submitted will be from more credible and solid projects,” notes Minh K Le, head of global hydrogen research at Rystad Energy. “Interest for hydrogen remains high, and is becoming more realistic.”
The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) is now evaluating the bids, with plans to announce the results by the end of May. The grant agreements are then expected to be signed by November.
Brussels confirmed last month that the third European Hydrogen Bank auction will be launched in the third quarter of this year, with a budget of €1 billion.
Source:Kallanish
