Today, the results of the third auction of the European Hydrogen Bank have been published: nine projects won across three baskets for a total of €1.09 billion, with a bid price range between €0.57/kg and €3.49/kg. Cumulatively, these projects will provide almost 1.1 GW in electrolyser capacity and produce 1.3 million tonnes of RFNBO and low-carbon electrolytic hydrogen over the first 10 years of operation, with an estimated greenhouse gas emissions avoidance of 9 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
Hydrogen Europe welcomes the results of the third auction and congratulates its members Hellenic Hydrogen S.A., MorGen Energy, Wiener Stadtwerke and Hy2gen for their success in this very competitive auction, which was more than 7 times oversubscribed.
It is positive to see countries represented for the first time in the winners list, such as Greece and Austria, while the largest successful bid is for a project in Finland – a country that has transposed its RED III transport targets. The bid prices have remained surprisingly low, often below €1 per kilogram of hydrogen produced (€1/kg). This demonstrates continued high levels of competition and confirms the expectation that RFNBO and low-carbon hydrogen will need to be sold at a premium.
Daniel Fraile, Chief Policy and Market Officer at Hydrogen Europe, commented: “We welcome the Hydrogen Bank results. We see a strong continued interest in the auctions, with as many applications as in the previous round. Additionally, we can see how the adoption of the REDIII transport directive in Germany is creating clear opportunities for the development of electrolytic hydrogen projects targeting the German market, including from projects in Denmark thanks to the planned hydrogen interconnector. We strongly advocate for a continuation of the European Hydrogen Bank, building on the lessons learnt, accompanying the full implementation of REDIII and transport regulations, as well as rapidly deploying infrastructure”.
The auction was divided into three baskets. The first, focusing on RFNBO hydrogen production projects, was heavily oversubscribed with 50 projects submitting bids representing €7.3 billion in funding competing over a total EU funding pot of €600 million. Five projects – spread across Greece, Spain, Denmark (x2) and Austria – won with €592 million awarded and bids ranging between €0.57/kg and €0.98/kg.
The second basket included both low-carbon electrolytic and RFNBO projects. It received 5 bids, with €800 million in requested funding for total funding pot of €400 million. Two projects, one in Finland and one in Germany, were successful and invited to sign the grant agreement, for a total of €379 million in funding. The winning bids stood at €0.44/kg and €1.1/kg.
The third basket included low-carbon electrolytic and RFNBO hydrogen projects too, but specifically for offtakers in the maritime and aviation sector. 3 projects submitted bids, undersubscribing the basket by €137 million. Two Norwegian projects were successful, representing €124 million, with bids of €3.48/kg and €3.49/kg.
Projects under the ‘Auction-as-a-Service’ (AaaS) mechanism are not yet public. However, the Commission said that three projects in Spain and three projects in Denmark will be invited to sign grant agreements under AaaS in Spain and Germany respectively. The German government is providing €1.3 billion for RFNBO hydrogen projects linked to the Danish-German pipeline with offtakers in Germany. Additionally, Spain allocated €304 million to the RFNBO topic for national projects, and €136 million for RNFBO and electrolytic low carbon hydrogen with offtakers in maritime or aviation sector.
The successful projects will now be invited to prepare their grant agreement with the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), and agreements are expected to be signed in Q42026. Projects must reach financial close 2.5 years after signing the grant agreement and enter into operation 5 years after signature of the grant agreement.
For more information:
Innovation Fund – competitive bidding