Hydrogen: European Hydrogen Bank and European Investment Bank

"To achieve the European Union’s hydrogen strategy, €24-42 billion of investment will be needed by 2030 in European electrolyser capacity alone" (of of 40 gigawatts by then)

"By mid-century, the cumulative investment needed in hydrogen production capacity in the European Union could be as high as €470 billion"

These are two quotes from a 2022 European Investment Bank report titled "Unlocking the hydrogen economy — stimulating investment across the hydrogen value chain". And in yesterday's article we quoted the European Hydrogen Bank. But what does it all means ?

In the past years, the European Commission has shown all support towards the development of a European Green hydrogen industry. More specifically, the focus is to accelerate the uptake of renewable hydrogen, ammonia and other derivatives in hard-to-decarbonise sectors, such as transport, and in energy-intensive industrial processes. Scaling up the development of hydrogen infrastructure and supporting hydrogen investments are also identified as key areas.

Annouced last September by Ursula von der Leyen, the European Hydrogen Bank will launch in the 4th quarter of 2023 a first of a series of auctions for supporting the production of renewable hydrogen by European producers. This means subsidies. Winning bids will be awarded a fixed premium per kilogram of hydrogen produced over a ten-year period through EU's €38bn Innovation Fund. Around €800m will be available for the first auction. A first workshop to discuss the auction programme for international producers was organised on 23 February 2023 and further details are expected for June.

The Commission also plans to introduce a competitive bidding mechanism to subsidise the production cost of components for wind and solar energy, batteries and electrolysers.

Back to the May 2022 European Investment Bank report, it brings investor perspectives on risks, challenges and the role of the public sector. The report highlights the key takeaways from a consultation with 46 market participants - industrial companies and financial investors - conducted by the European Investment Bank’s Advisory Services at the request of the European Commission, under the InnovFin Advisory initiative.

Click at the image below to access this 40-pages report.

If looking for basic information, check the chapter "Hydrogen — State of Play". Key interview findings are presented in the sequence. They may bring questions and converns of professionals like us.

And let's monitor these developments. Maybe here.