Europe will hold the next hydrogen auction in December backed by €1.2bn funding, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed today (7th November).
She relayed news of the funding in a video message at the Renewable Hydrogen Summit in Brussels.
The new funding round includes a new clause that specifically encourages the use of equipment from European companies. “Because they are the very innovators that pioneered renewable hydrogen tech in the first place. This secures Europe’s energy independence. And this creates good jobs here in Europe,” she said.
The first auction under the European Hydrogen Bank saw almost €700m disbursed to projects.
It’s been a challenging year for the hydrogen sector, particularly with securing financing and offtake agreements, and the President conceded “there’s a lot of work ahead of us”.
“First, we need to accelerate the creation of clean lead markets. We are working closely with Member States and industry offtakers — from steel and chemical producers to transport and energy storage providers — to identify their priorities,” she said.
“This will be a key part of the Clean Industrial Deal that the new European Commission will present in its first 100 days. We want to prioritise the infrastructure needed to connect large-scale hydrogen projects with end users. We will tap into Europe’s vast renewables potential and bring it to our industries to help them decarbonise.”
“This would significantly lower prices, not only for clean steel, cement, fuel and plastics, but also for fertilisers, glass, and a range of other hard-to-decarbonise sectors. The competitive benefits to European industry could be immense.”
The challenge for Europe is under the Renewable Energy Directive, at least 42% of hydrogen used in industry, and 29% in transport, must be renewable by 2030 – under agreed binding targets. Member States have until May 2025 to turn them into national law.
“If done right, this will be a game-changer, unlocking demand across the entire value chain. And encouraging hydrogen production to scale up across Europe,” she added.
Despite the setbacks, she said Europe has seen final investment decisions on over 2 gigawatts of renewable hydrogen projects in the last year, four times its current installed capacity. The continent aims to produce 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen by 2030.
“These decisions are more than milestones, they signal a new chapter,” she said.
“Projects that secure all necessary funding and permits are ready to break ground. Stegra’s Boden steel plant in Sweden, supported by the European Innovation Fund, will soon be the largest renewable hydrogen project in the world. And it’s not alone. From Denmark to Romania, from Germany to Portugal, 10 other large-scale projects have also moved from concept to construction.”
To put that into perspective, the US saw just two such decisions during the same period.
“This illustrates European leadership in renewable hydrogen. In fact, investment in European hydrogen is set to grow by 140% in 2024, with Europe contributing nearly a third of global investments in electrolysers,” she said.
