Apr 16, 2025
The European Commission has authorized the Spanish hydrogen auction as part of the European Hydrogen Bank.
The European Commission has announced its approval of a €400 million ($450 million) scheme in Spain for green hydrogen "auction as a service" under the second round of the European Hydrogen Bank support mechanism, as stated on April 15. This state aid program will facilitate Spanish renewable hydrogen production projects following the second EU Hydrogen Bank subsidy auction, which concluded in February.
The scheme aims to support the construction of up to 345 MW of electrolyzer capacity and the production of up to 221,000 mt of renewable hydrogen in Spain. It enables member states to back domestic renewable hydrogen projects that applied for Hydrogen Bank auction support but were not successful at the EU level. The initiative could potentially prevent up to 1 million mt of CO2 emissions.
Spain seeks to achieve 12 GW of installed electrolysis capacity by 2030. The second Hydrogen Bank auction attracted four times more bids than available, with 61 projects from 11 countries participating, according to the European Commission on March 7. Winners will be announced by the end of May and will receive a fixed premium subsidy for renewable hydrogen production over a decade, capped at €4/kg.
The total grant requests for this auction exceeded €4.8 billion against a €1.2 billion budget, supported by the EU Innovation Fund. This demand represents 6.3 GW of electrolysis capacity, covering about 7% of the EU's renewable hydrogen production target for 2030.
In the first auction of 2023, €694 million was allocated to six projects in Iberia and the Nordics, totalling around 1.5 GW of production capacity, priced below €0.50/kg. On April 14, Platts estimated the cost of green hydrogen production via alkaline electrolysis in Spain, backed by renewable power agreements, at €5.00/kg ($5.67/kg), a decrease from over €11/kg in mid-December.
This assessment indicates one method for compliant green hydrogen production under the EU Renewable Energy Directive. In March, the EC also approved similar state aid initiatives from Austria and Lithuania, providing €400 million and €36 million respectively for their auctions, which will support the production of up to 112,000 mt of hydrogen in Austria and 13,000 mt in Lithuania, avoiding a total of up to 597,000 mt of CO2.
A third EU Hydrogen Bank auction is set to occur in the third quarter of 2025, with a budget of €1 billion.
The scheme aims to support the construction of up to 345 MW of electrolyzer capacity and the production of up to 221,000 mt of renewable hydrogen in Spain. It enables member states to back domestic renewable hydrogen projects that applied for Hydrogen Bank auction support but were not successful at the EU level. The initiative could potentially prevent up to 1 million mt of CO2 emissions.
Spain seeks to achieve 12 GW of installed electrolysis capacity by 2030. The second Hydrogen Bank auction attracted four times more bids than available, with 61 projects from 11 countries participating, according to the European Commission on March 7. Winners will be announced by the end of May and will receive a fixed premium subsidy for renewable hydrogen production over a decade, capped at €4/kg.
The total grant requests for this auction exceeded €4.8 billion against a €1.2 billion budget, supported by the EU Innovation Fund. This demand represents 6.3 GW of electrolysis capacity, covering about 7% of the EU's renewable hydrogen production target for 2030.
In the first auction of 2023, €694 million was allocated to six projects in Iberia and the Nordics, totalling around 1.5 GW of production capacity, priced below €0.50/kg. On April 14, Platts estimated the cost of green hydrogen production via alkaline electrolysis in Spain, backed by renewable power agreements, at €5.00/kg ($5.67/kg), a decrease from over €11/kg in mid-December.
This assessment indicates one method for compliant green hydrogen production under the EU Renewable Energy Directive. In March, the EC also approved similar state aid initiatives from Austria and Lithuania, providing €400 million and €36 million respectively for their auctions, which will support the production of up to 112,000 mt of hydrogen in Austria and 13,000 mt in Lithuania, avoiding a total of up to 597,000 mt of CO2.
A third EU Hydrogen Bank auction is set to occur in the third quarter of 2025, with a budget of €1 billion.