EC approves €6.9 bn for development of hydrogen infrastructure

Concept of green H2 plant (Photo: Adobe Stock)

The European Commission has approved up to €6.9 billion of state aid from seven member states to support development of hydrogen infrastructure.

The Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) is planned to increase the supply of renewable energy, while cutting dependence on natural gas.

“While the renewable hydrogen supply chain in Europe is still in a nascent phase, Hy2Infra will deploy the initial building blocks of an integrated and open renewable hydrogen network,” said Margrethe Vestager, executive VP in charge of Competition Policy.

She continued: “This IPCEI will establish the first regional infrastructure clusters in several Member States and prepare the ground for future interconnections across Europe, in line with the European Hydrogen Strategy. This will support the market ramp-up of renewable hydrogen supply and take us steps closer to making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.”

Called IPCEI Hy2Infra, the project will be funded by France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Slovakia.

The €6.9 billion in public finding is expected to unlock up to €5.4 billion in private investment. In total, 32 companies are set to participate in 33 related projects.

IPCEI Hy2Infra will support the following infrastructure initiatives:

- deployment of 3.2 GW of large-scale hydrogen electrolysers for production of renewable hydrogen

- Approximately 2,700 km of hydrogen transmission and distribution pipelines

- Development of large-scale (at least 370 GW) hydrogen storage facilities

- Construction of handling terminals and related port infrastructure for up to 6,000 tonnes of liquid organic hydrogen per year.

Several large-scale electrolysers are expected to be operational between 2026 and ’28. Pipelines are to be installed between 2027 and ’29.

The project IPCEI Hy2Infra project follows the Hy2Tech initiative, agreed in 2022, which has a focus on development of hydrogen technology for end users.

As part of the IPCEI Hy2Infra project, participants will collaborate on interoperability and common standards to facilitate future market integration. It is planned that the IPCEI will be the foundation for a future EU-wide hydrogen infrastructure.