Brussels allows 13 countries to invest 5,200 million in hydrogen sector

The European Commission on Wednesday gave permission to thirteen EU countries, including Spain, to invest 5,200 million euros in a series of projects focused on research and innovation in the field of hydrogen, its industrial deployment or the construction of infrastructures.

The initiative, named IPCEI Hy2Use, was notified to the European authorities by Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden and involves 29 companies for a total of 35 projects, informed the Community Executive.

These Member States will jointly invest €5.2 billion and expect this disbursement to unlock a further €7 billion in additional private sector investments. Norway also participates as a member of the European Economic Area (EEA) by funding two more projects.

“Developing low-carbon technologies and, in particular, green hydrogen, and building the necessary infrastructure for their development will bring us closer to the goal of Europe being the first climate-neutral continent by 2050,” said Margrethe Vestager, Vice-President of the EU Executive responsible for Competition.

Thus, the projects that are part of IPCEI Hy2Use will cover a “wide range” of the hydrogen value chain supporting the construction of infrastructures, mainly large-scale electrolysers for sustainable hydrogen production, storage and transport.

They will also be focused on the development of “innovative and sustainable” technologies for the integration of hydrogen in industrial processes of “multiple” sectors, especially “those for which decarbonization is more complicated”, such as steel, cement or glass.

The objective of this Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) is to “increase the supply of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen”, thus contributing to the European objective of reducing dependence on natural gas as an energy source.

Brussels detailed that some projects will be developed in the “near future”, with several large-scale electrolysers will be operational between 2024 and 2026 and “many of the innovative technologies deployed” between 2026 and 2027.

The stipulated date for the completion of all projects is 2036, with variations in the calendars depending on each project and the companies involved in them.

This is the second approval by the European Commission of an IPCEI related to the hydrogen value chain, since the EU authorities have already given the green light to another initiative that focuses more on final hydrogen consumers and the mobility sector.

Source: Swiss Info