The European Hydrogen Bank (EHB) has awarded seven renewable hydrogen projects with almost €720m ($772m) in subsidies with projects set to gain up to €0.5/kg of hydrogen produced. It is the first competitive bidding process under the EHB, which attracted over 132 bids in total, with the selected seven expected to produce some 1.6 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen over a ten year period from a combined 1.48GW of electrolysis.

The winning bids will gain access to between €0.37 ($0.40) and €0.48 ($0.51) per kilogramme of renewable hydrogen produced, receiving total subsidies between €8m ($8.6m) and €245m ($263m), funded by revenues from the EU’s emissions trading scheme (ETS).

However, the scheme was unveiled with a ceiling price of up to €4.5/kg ($4.82) of hydrogen in a bid to bridge the cost gap to unabated fossil fuel-based hydrogen. Speaking at the recent World Economic Forum’s Special Meeting, TotalEnergies Chairman and CEO, Patrick Pouyanné, said current green hydrogen prices were €8/kg ($8.58).

In brief, the 7 projects selected are:

MadoquaPower2x secured the largest award of €245.3m ($263m) for its 500MW MP2X which could produce 511 ktonnes in a decade (€0.48/kg). Located in the Sines industrial zone, the project will produce green hydrogen and ammonia using alkaline electrolyser technology with hydrogen transported through a local hydrogen grid for use by local industry. Green ammonia is planned to be transported to the Port of Sines via pipeline for export and/or use as maritime fuel.

Renato P2X’s 480MW Catalina project in Spain secured €230.4m ($247m) for its plans to produce 480 ktonnes (€0.48/kg). The electrolyser plant will be connected to a green ammonia conversion facility through a dedicated 221km hydrogen pipeline. The developers expect the €2.35bn ($2.5bn) project to be online by December 2027.

Petrogal’s 200MW Grey2Green-II project in Portugal secured €84.2m ($90.3m) to produce 6 ktonnes in 10 years (€0.39/kg). While details of the project are limited, it is understood to be a follow-up project to Portuguese-based Galp’s 100MW green hydrogen project to replace around 20% of its grey hydrogen consumption at its Sines refinery, which passed FID in 2023.

Skiga’s 117MW project in Norway secured €81.2m ($87m) to produce 169 ktonnes over a decade (€0.48/kg).

Nordic Ren-Gas has secured a total of €45.1m ($48.4m) for its 90MW eNRG Lahti project in Finland, which plans to produce 122 ktonnes of renewable hydrogen over 10 years (€0.37/kg). Set to be developed with Lahti Energia, the project will produce synthetic methane, green hydrogen and district heat.

Benbros Energy secured €24.7m ($26.5m) for its 60MW El Alamillo H2 project in Spain, iming to produce a decade total of 65 ktonnes (€0.38/kg).

Angus gained €8.2m ($8.7m) for the 35MW Spanish HYSENCIA project which is slated to generate 17 ktonnes in the 10-year time frame (€0.48/kg).

All seven projects are expected to sign grant agreements by November 2024 and will have to start producing renewable hydrogen within a maximum of five years after this signing date.