EU invests nearly a billion euros in renewable hydrogen

On 20 May 2025, the European Commission announced the selection of 15 renewable hydrogen production projects across five countries in the European Economic Area (EEA).

These projects are set to produce nearly 2.2 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen over the next decade, helping to avoid over 15 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions. The hydrogen will serve various sectors including transportation, the chemical industry, and the production of methanol and ammonia.

The projects will receive a combined €992 million in EU funding from the Innovation Fund, sourced from the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). This funding comes through the second auction of the European Hydrogen Bank (EHB), which supports producers by bridging the gap between production costs and market prices.

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The goal is to accelerate renewable hydrogen deployment, replacing fossil fuels like natural gas, coal, and oil in difficult-to-decarbonize industries and transport, thereby boosting EU energy independence, security, jobs, and industrial decarbonization.

During the 2025 GREEN4SEA Athens Forum, Antonis Trakakis, Chairman, CIMAC Greece, explored the challenges and opportunities for decarbonizing the maritime industry focusing on hydrogen. He explained that hydrogen itself is an attractive option because of its high energy content, fast-burning velocity, and ability to work well with fuels like LNG in internal combustion engines.

Dedicated budget for the maritime sector

Of the selected projects, 12 are committed to producing renewable hydrogen with fixed premium support between €0.20 and €0.60 per kilogramme. For the first time, the auction provided a dedicated budget for hydrogen producers with off-takers in the maritime sector, which are entities using the hydrogen produced by the project for carrying out or making use of bunkering activities. This has resulted in the selection of three bids receiving €96.7 million in grants. These projects will require between €0.45 and €1.88 per kilogramme. Each subsidy for the 15 projects ranges from €8 million and €246 million over a period up to 10 years.