€5.2bn bonanza | EU unlocks even more subsidies for hydrogen — this time for heavy industry
The Hy2Use scheme will enable the construction of 3.5GW of new electrolysis capacity for industrial applications
Hydrogen: hype, hope and the hard truths around its role in the energy transition
Hy2Use, which was granted the status of Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) today (Wednesday), encompasses 35 projects across 13 countries in the bloc with a focus on boosting supply for industrial applications.
Among the projects from 29 companies are a variety of electrolyser plans that add up to 3.5GW in total.
IPCEI status effectively exempts Hy2Use from the usual EU restrictions on state aid, opening the door for billions of euros’ worth of investment. As well as funnelling €5.2bn of public money to the scheme, it will also unlock an additional €7bn in private funding, the EC says.
“The hydrogen value chain in Europe is in its infancy,” said the EC’s competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager. “This makes it risky for companies and member states to invest alone in such [an] innovative market. That is where state aid has a role to play to unlock, crowd-in and leverage substantial private investments that would otherwise not materialise.”
But unlike Hy2Tech, which focused mainly on projects innovating across the hydrogen value chain as well as mobility applications, Hy2Use projects coalesce around hydrogen infrastructure such as pipelines, and end-use hydrogen applications, including the manufacture of cement, steel and glass.
Among the projects included in Hy2Use are Air Liquide’s hydrogen pipeline for the 10MW CurtHyl project and its 200MW ELYgator electrolyser-to-pipeline project, both in the Netherlands. Repsol’s Bay of Biscay Hydrogen project, which comprises an electrolyser in Bilbao connected to the company’s Petronor oil refinery, will also be in play for funding.
And on the end-use side, Hy2Use includes Sweden’s green-steel hydrogen project, Hybrit, Greece’s Titan Cement, and Italian renewable chemicals company NextChem.