Interview

European Commission Goes Live with Landmark First Renewable Hydrogen Auction

Nov 30, 2023

On November 23, 2023, the European Commission launched the first auction round of the ‘European Hydrogen Bank’, but the first thing you should know is that it is not really a bank.

The Hydrogen Bank is really an auction mechanism for renewable hydrogen production subsidies, and complements other existing funding tools that together aim to establish a market for renewable hydrogen. The European Commission believe that this first pilot auction round of €800 million euros will lead to a true price discovery for renewable hydrogen production in the EU, as well as making a dent in the REPowerEU goal to produce 10 million tonnes of clean hydrogen domestically by 2030. Renewable hydrogen has a critical role to play in Europe’s future energy mix, in particular for the decarbonisation of heavy industry and some transport sectors.

Johanna Schiele of DG CLIMA is one of the key members of the team who prepared this Innovation Fund initiative, and she joined Florence School of Regulation researcher James Kneebone for a debrief on the subject.

With the auction we want a fresh start. We want a level playing field between projects that bid, and we want these bids to reflect competition on the best project conditions and not the best state aid conditions.

Johanna Schiele, DG CLIMA

This first pilot auction will run until February 8, 2024, and will be followed soon after by a second round with fresh funds in April 2024. You can access the auction platform itself here, and find out more information about the specifics of the mechanism from the dedicated FAQ and via the recording of the November 30 info day.

For more information on the build-out of a clean hydrogen sector in Europe, see some of our papers, events, and training courses.

IF23 Call Info Day

The Commission and the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) are organising a dedicated info day to run potential applicants through the call text and application process. Don’t miss it!