13 May 2026
EU awards over €1 billion to hydrogen production projects
The European Commission has selected nine large-scale hydrogen production projects across seven European countries under the European Hydrogen Bank’s third auction, allocating more than €1 billion from the EU Innovation Fund to accelerate renewable and low-carbon hydrogen deployment and strengthen Europe’s industrial competitiveness. The auction attracted strong market interest across three funding categories covering RFNBO hydrogen production, low-carbon electrolytic hydrogen and projects targeting the maritime and aviation sectors. In total, projects from countries including Greece, Spain, Denmark, Austria, Finland, Germany and Norway secured funding, with support levels reflecting the diversity and maturity of the hydrogen market across Europe.
In parallel, additional projects are expected to receive support under the Auction-as-a-Service (AaaS) mechanism, including initiatives linked to the Danish-German hydrogen pipeline and national funding schemes in Spain.
The selected projects are expected to deliver around 1.1 GW of electrolyser capacity and produce more than 1.3 million tonnes of hydrogen over the next decade, helping to avoid approximately 9 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions while supporting decarbonisation in hard-to-abate sectors such as industry, maritime transport and aviation. Grant agreements with the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) are expected to be signed in Q4 2026, with projects required to reach financial close within 2.5 years and become operational within five years after signature.