Germany providing EUR 4.6 billion in grants for hydrogen projects

Germany is disbursing EUR 4.6 billion in subsidies for 23 projects for hydrogen production, transportation, and storage. The grants are awarded by the federal government and individual states, while beneficiary companies are to provide a total of EUR 3.3 billion of their own funds.

The funded projects, whose total value is EUR 7.9 billion, cover the entire hydrogen value chain, including the production of green hydrogen in electrolyzers with a capacity of up to 1.4 GW, powered by renewable energy, and innovative hydrogen storage solutions, with a total capacity of up to 370 GWh.

The projects also include pipeline infrastructure of up to 2,000 km in length to ensure the transport and availability of hydrogen, as well as the use of liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHC) to transport some 1,800 tons of the gas a year.

The projects should help decarbonize Germany’s energy-intensive sectors such as steel and chemicals

Several projects will form cross-state clusters of pipeline, storage, and generation infrastructure with connections to industrial customers in energy-intensive sectors such as the steel and chemical industries, according to the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

Others are intended to enable hydrogen imports to Germany from neighboring countries such as the Netherlands, the ministry said.

Minister Robert Habeck has said that by promoting hydrogen projects, Germany is taking an important step towards a climate-neutral and sustainable economy in Europe and beyond.

“An efficient hydrogen infrastructure plays a key role in enabling the decarbonization of industry and the energy sector,” according to Habeck.

The European Commission approved Germany’s state aid in February, under the third wave of the Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) Hydrogen program, called Hy2infra, according to reports. The German government has now handed funding decisions to participating companies.

The first and the second waves of IPCEI Hydrogen have already been implemented, under the names Hy2Tech and Hy2Use, respectively, while the fourth wave, Hy2Move, is yet to be launched.