Southern and Nordic projects triumph in EU green auctions

Low clearing prices in first European Hydrogen Bank auction reflect fierce competition for green hydrogen subsidies and buyers’ willingness to pay premium

Seven hydrogen production projects spanning Spain, Portugal and the Nordic region will share a total of €720m ($768.96m) of subsidies over ten years after submitting winning bids in the first competitive auction under the EU’s European Hydrogen Bank (EHB) scheme. The winning projects plan to produce a combined 1.58mt of renewable hydrogen over ten years. The bids for subsidies range from €0.37–0.48/kg of hydrogen produced, far below the auction’s upper limit of €4.50/kg. The subsidies granted to individual winning projects range from €8–245m. Subsidies are paid as fixed premiums and are intended to bridge the gap between the cost of green hydrogen production and the price consumers are willi