EU unveils $3bn cash pot to realise its hydrogen targets – and it wants projects to fund right now
Multi billion-euro funding call next week will allocate money across whole H2 value chain to ‘cement the role of hydrogen’
The EU has announced a major new multi billion-euro funding initiative for European hydrogen that will see up to €3bn ($3bn) allocated for schemes across the entire hydrogen value chain, including electrolyser manufacture, renewables components and green H2 production in heavy industry.
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Frans Timmermans, executive vice president of the European Commission (EC) and the bloc’s lead on the European Green Deal, told delegates at European Hydrogen Week in Brussels yesterday that the cash, made available by the EU’s €38bn Innovation Fund, would “cement the role of hydrogen and our strategy to move away from Russian fossil fuels”.
Further funding from the European Hydrogen Bank will be available next year in the form of a contracts for difference scheme that will make the market price of green hydrogen competitive with fossil fuel-derived grey H2, Timmermans added (see separate story).
Funding stream
Around €1bn of November’s funding call will be allocated to will go to projects aiming to decarbonise heavy industry — mostly likely green steel, ammonia and chemicals production — including renewable hydrogen production and use.
“Under this window we will welcome projects on both direct and indirect electrification of industrial processes, as well as production of renewable hydrogen,” Timmermans said.
€700m will be made available for manufacture of key components for renewable energy, energy storage and renewable hydrogen, such as PV cells and electrolysers. Here, the EU is looking to upscale existing manufacturing capability, Timmermans noted.
A further €300m will be used for mid-sized pilot projects with “deep decarbonisation potential”.
An additional €1bn will go to general decarbonisation projects, namely in renewable energy, energy-intensive industries and energy storage or carbon capture.
“I want to really strongly encourage you to make good use of these opportunities to move ahead with your projects,” Timmermans told the audience in Brussels. “This is a serious financial commitment.”