The European Commission reserves funds from the Innovation Fund for the Hydrogen Bank to boost green H2 production in Europe. In a request for feedback from the Commission, we echoed our initial consultation response, stressing the importance of introducing guarantees for public support of hydrogen production under two strict conditions:  

1. Hydrogen is produced in a way that does not increase emissions in any other part of the energy system. 

2. Hydrogen is used in a sector that does not have other decarbonisation pathways

At the end of April, the European Commission unveiled the first EU-wide renewable Hydrogen Auction results. This event saw seven pre-selected projects being awarded a substantial 719 million euros to produce 1.6 million tonnes of hydrogen over a decade. 

Following these results, the European Commission opened another stakeholder consultation round to the draft terms and conditions for the second hydrogen auction round. In this consultation, in addition to reiterating our previous points, we also:

• Highlight the lack of requirements regarding the off-takers and emphase that future auctions should include a ranking principle for no-regret off-takers that does not solely rely on price. 
• Express our appreciation for the introduction of a dedicated financing basket for the maritime sector and recommend for this concept to be expanded to other no-regret sectors. 
• Welcome the introduction of a clause on a “Method and estimate of subsidy per ton of CO2 abated” and suggest that consideration be given to including CO2 abatement as a selection criterion in the evaluation.

Download the consultation response from June 2023:

Consultation Terms & Conditions Hydrogen Bank