Quick links:
Hydrogen
Renewable Energy
Europe
European Union

EU awards €720m to seven renewable hydrogen projects that will begin production in five years

Open-access content Tanya Weaver — Wed 1 May 2024
EU awards €720m to seven renewable hydrogen projects that will begin production within five years - Credit: iStock

iStock

The EU has awarded nearly €720m to seven renewable hydrogen projects with a combined electrolysis capacity of 1.5GW in the European Hydrogen Bank’s first subsidy auction.

In November 2023, the European Commission launched the pilot auction under the European Hydrogen Bank to support the production of renewable hydrogen in Europe.

The European Hydrogen Bank aims to support the scale-up of cleaner fuels that will help contribute to the decarbonisation of European industry, including sectors such as steel, chemicals, maritime transport and fertilisers.

Funding for the subsidy auction comes from the Innovation Fund, a funding programme from the EU Emissions Trading System for the demonstration of innovative low-carbon technologies.

In February 2024, the commission revealed that the pilot auction attracted 132 bids from projects across 17 European countries. 

Following the bidding process, the commission has announced it is awarding nearly €720m to seven renewable hydrogen projects located in four European countries. The subsidy the seven projects will receive ranges from €8m to €245m. 

These projects include the Lahti Power-to-Gas plant in Finland, El Alamillo H2 in Spain, Catalina in Spain, MadoquaPower2x in Portugal, Grey2Green-II in Portugal, Skiga in Norway and the HYSENCIA in Spain.  

Together, the winning projects plan to produce 1.58 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen over 10 years, avoiding more than 10 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. 

In addition, the commission has approved a €350m German scheme to support the production of renewable hydrogen in Germany through the European Hydrogen Bank’s ‘Auctions-as-a-Service’ scheme.

The seven selected projects will now prepare their grant agreements, which are expected to be finalised by November 2024. They will then have five years to start producing renewable hydrogen. 

The commission plans to launch a second European Hydrogen Bank auction by the end of this year.

Hydrogen projects in other countries across the world are also ramping up. Last week, Green Energy Park announced it had secured $30m Series-A funding in order to build a large-scale 10.8GW renewable hydrogen production plant in Brazil.

In January 2024, the ‘UK’s largest’ hydrogen hub located at the Stanlow Manufacturing Complex in Ellesmere Port received the green light from local authority Chester West and Chester Council. 

You may also be interested in...

The Viking Link includes approximately 390 miles of subsea cables between the coasts of Denmark and the UK. - Credit: iStock/Jorgen Jacobsen

1.4GW Viking Link electricity cable connecting UK and Denmark has been launched

Mon 22 Apr 2024
The Viking Link, the longest land and subsea cable in the world, has now officially been launched by National Grid.
Open-access content
abandoned refridgerator - Credit: Shutterstock

Refrigerant gases banned for climate-warming impact are being smuggled into Europe

Mon 8 Apr 2024
Illegal refrigerant gases, banned for their climate-wrecking impact, are still being smuggled into Europe, the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has warned.
Open-access content
Researchers find way to convert methane emissions from landfill into sustainable jet fuel - Credit: iStock/Liliya Filakhtova

Researchers find way to convert methane emissions from landfill into sustainable jet fuel

Wed 1 May 2024
New research shows how a chemical process using non-thermal plasma could contribute to a circular economy by converting methane emissions from landfill into sustainable jet fuel.
Open-access content
Artist impression of the ESA Smile mission - Credit: ESA

ESA’s solar wind mission is set to launch into space in late 2025

Tue 30 Apr 2024
The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced that the Smile (Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) mission will launch on a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana in late 2025.
Open-access content
G7 countries to set a timeline for the phaseout of coal-fired power plants - Credit: iStock

G7 countries to set a timeline for the phase-out of coal-fired power plants

Tue 30 Apr 2024
Energy and climate ministers from the G7 group of industrialised nations are currently meeting in Turin, where a deal is being agreed to phase out the use of coal power “in the first half of the 2030s” where the emissions have not been captured.
Open-access content
UK aircraft orders hit record high but deliveries continue to lag - latest figures - Credit: Shutterstock

UK aircraft orders hit record high but deliveries continue to lag – latest figures

Mon 29 Apr 2024
Latest figures  by ADS Group reveal that while commercial aircraft orders for Q1 2024 are up from 2023 figures, production challenges are continuing to cause a lag in deliveries.
Open-access content
From today internet-enabled devices must meet new cyber security standards by law - Credit: Shutterstock

From today, internet-enabled devices must meet new cyber-security standards by law

Mon 29 Apr 2024
New legislation by the UK government requires manufacturers of smart products to implement minimum security standards against cyber threats.
Open-access content

More from European Union

artificial intelligence ai biometric security camera scan - Credit: Shutterstock

EU signs law to crack down on ‘high risk’ AI

Thu 14 Mar 2024
The European Parliament has approved new laws governing AI in a bid to mitigate the dangers of a rapidly growing industry.
Open-access content
spotify on iphone apple - Credit: Shutterstock

Apple receives €1.8bn EU fine for promoting its music streaming service over rivals

Tue 5 Mar 2024
The EU has levied a €1.8bn (£1.5bn) fine against Apple for making it difficult for European users to find out pricing information for alternative music streaming services such as Spotify and YouTube Music.
Open-access content
tubular algae carbon removal reducation ccus biofuel - Credit: iStock

EU lawmakers agree on certification scheme for carbon removal projects

Wed 21 Feb 2024
The EU has provisionally agreed on a framework that defines technologies used to remove carbon from the atmosphere as part of climate change mitigation efforts.
Open-access content
European Parliament building with EU flag - Credit: Artjazz, Shutterstock

Key committees give green light to European AI legislation

Tue 13 Feb 2024
Two important committees of the European Parliament have approved draft legislation for the regulation of AI in the EU, marking a major step towards the new rules becoming law.
Open-access content

More from Europe

UK granted access to European supercomputer research funding - Credit: Shutterstock

UK granted access to European supercomputer research funding

Mon 13 May 2024
The UK has joined the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC), which not only allows the UK access to Europe’s cutting-edge supercomputing facilities, but also funding through the Horizon Europe-funded portion of the EuroHPC.
Open-access content
plastic production and manufacturing - Credit: iStock

Europe’s plastic makers struggle to keep pace with China and meet recycling targets

Wed 20 Mar 2024
Europe’s plastic manufacturers are steadily losing market share to China and are struggling to meet environment and climate targets, a study has found.
Open-access content
artificial intelligence ai biometric security camera scan - Credit: Shutterstock

EU signs law to crack down on ‘high risk’ AI

Thu 14 Mar 2024
The European Parliament has approved new laws governing AI in a bid to mitigate the dangers of a rapidly growing industry.
Open-access content
Horizon IT illustration - Credit: Shutterstock - 2292347197

Horizon: How the UK could regain its leading role in Europe's R&D hub

Mon 29 Jan 2024
After a three-year hiatus, the UK has rejoined Europe’s flagship research and development fund, Horizon Europe. The news has been welcomed with relief by the R&D sector, which keenly felt its exclusion, but uncertainty remains as to whether the UK can regain its leading role within the programme.
Open-access content

More from Hydrogen

A person holding a phone with an Essar logo on it - Credit: T. Schneider, Shutterstock

‘UK’s largest’ hydrogen hub gets green light from local authority

Thu 11 Jan 2024
Chester West and Chester Council have approved plans for a hydrogen hub, which aims to cut carbon dioxide emissions for manufacturers in the region.
Open-access content
Green hydrogen tank (Image credit: Shutterstock)

UK ramps up green hydrogen ambitions with funding for 11 new projects

Thu 14 Dec 2023
The UK government has confirmed £2bn in funding for 11 “major projects” to produce green hydrogen and has confirmed that suppliers will receive a guaranteed price for the clean energy they supply.
Open-access content
European Union headquarters - Credit: iStock

EU agrees on new hydrogen regulation

Wed 29 Nov 2023
The Council of the EU and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on future hydrogen and natural gas market rules.
Open-access content
The Line Neom - Credit: NEOM

Project Watch - The Line/Neom

Wed 29 Nov 2023
Around the world, many great projects are changing the built environment and our infrastructure – but sometimes progress is slow and they slip off the radar. This column follows their development.
Members'-only content

More from Renewable Energy

New testing facility in Northumberland will accelerate the development of next-gen super wind turbines - Credit: ORE-Catapult

New testing facility in Blyth to accelerate the development of next-gen super wind turbines

Tue 14 May 2024
An advanced wind turbine test facility will be built in Blyth, Northumberland, as part of an £86m investment by the UK government in wind power R&D facilities.
Open-access content
Construction starts on £350m subsea cable factory in the Scottish Highlands - Credit: Gillian Frampton

Construction starts on £350m subsea cable factory in the Scottish Highlands

Tue 14 May 2024
As ground is broken on Sumitomo Electric’s new £350m subsea cable manufacturing plant in the Scottish Highlands, it has also been announced that the Japanese company is the preferred bidder for the new Shetland 2 undersea cable.
Open-access content
Renewable energy responsible for 30% of the world’s electricity supply in 2023 - Credit: iStock

Renewable energy responsible for 30% of the world’s electricity supply in 2023

Wed 8 May 2024
A new report has found that for the first time 30% of electricity produced worldwide came from renewable energy sources, predominantly solar and wind.
Open-access content
UK electricity pylons tower in nature field - Credit: Shutterstock

£58bn electricity grid revamp urgently needed to support renewables, operator says

Tue 19 Mar 2024
A £58bn revamp of the UK’s energy grid is needed to connect a raft of new offshore wind facilities to be built off the Scottish coast, the regulator has said.
Open-access content

More from News

Onshore wind farms offset their carbon emissions within two years - Credit: iStock

Onshore wind farms offset their carbon emissions within two years, new study finds

Fri 17 May 2024
A new study, which finds that onshore wind farms are capable of offsetting the carbon emissions generated across their entire lifespan within two years, “underscores the environmental efficiency of onshore wind farms and their important role in the energy transition”.
Open-access content
ESA and NASA team up to land the ExoMars rover on Mars - Credit: ESA Mlabspace

ESA and Nasa team up to land rover on Mars

Fri 17 May 2024
The European Space Agency and Nasa have announced a partnership for the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission to enable the Rosalind Franklin rover to get to Mars by 2030.
Open-access content
Copper cannot be mined quickly enough to keep up with current policies requiring the transition to electric vehicles - Credit: Shutterstock

The amount of copper needed to build EVs is ‘impossible for mining companies to produce’

Thu 16 May 2024
Copper cannot be mined quickly enough to keep up with current policies requiring the transition to electric vehicles, according to a University of Michigan study.
Open-access content
radio frequency directed energy weapon - Credit: Ian Bayley/UK MOD © Crown copyright 2024

Armed Forces developing weapon that disables drones using radio frequencies

Thu 16 May 2024
The UK’s armed forces are developing a new weapon that uses radio waves to disable enemy electronics and take down multiple drones at once.
Open-access content

More from Tanya Weaver

Onshore wind farms offset their carbon emissions within two years - Credit: iStock

Onshore wind farms offset their carbon emissions within two years, new study finds

Fri 17 May 2024
A new study, which finds that onshore wind farms are capable of offsetting the carbon emissions generated across their entire lifespan within two years, “underscores the environmental efficiency of onshore wind farms and their important role in the energy transition”.
Open-access content
ESA and NASA team up to land the ExoMars rover on Mars - Credit: ESA Mlabspace

ESA and Nasa team up to land rover on Mars

Fri 17 May 2024
The European Space Agency and Nasa have announced a partnership for the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission to enable the Rosalind Franklin rover to get to Mars by 2030.
Open-access content
Copper cannot be mined quickly enough to keep up with current policies requiring the transition to electric vehicles - Credit: Shutterstock

The amount of copper needed to build EVs is ‘impossible for mining companies to produce’

Thu 16 May 2024
Copper cannot be mined quickly enough to keep up with current policies requiring the transition to electric vehicles, according to a University of Michigan study.
Open-access content
In 2014 construction of the Extremely Large Telescope got underway at Cerro Armazones in Chile’s Atacama Desert. - Credit: Shutterstock

UK ATC to start building scientific instruments for the world’s ‘biggest eye on the sky’

Thu 16 May 2024
The Extremely Large Telescope, currently under construction in the Chilean desert, will feature a range of scientific instruments, the first of which has now entered manufacture.
Open-access content