Germany has agreed to merge its hydrogen fund H2Global Foundation with the European Hydrogen Bank, which will open the possibility of financing for international imports of H2 for all member countries of the bloc.
This was agreed upon by Kadri Simson, the European Commissioner for Energy, and Robert Habeck, the German Federal Minister of Economy, reports H2 View.
It is noted that the European Hydrogen Bank and H2Global will jointly develop a European auction focused on international imports. This will support the REPowerEU plan's optional target of importing 10 million tonnes of green hydrogen.
The material said that the Bank's initial financing amounted to €3 billion for the development of the hydrogen market. At the beginning of 2023, the European Commission announced the launch of the first series of tenders worth €800 million as part of it. The initiative offers a fixed premium per kg of green hydrogen, subsidizing domestic production.
The authors added that the H2Global fund was established in 2021 to support hydrogen projects through the purchase of green hydrogen and its derivatives with long-term contacts and resale in Germany at annual auctions.
They emphasized that the parties have not disclosed how the planned auctions will be financed.
"Germany is going to invest more than €5 billion in international hydrogen in the coming years. The first auctions are already underway. This promising model is open to international partners. Therefore, I strongly welcome the idea of joining forces and making H2Global an integral part of the European Hydrogen Bank," – Habek said.
"I am glad to see that Germany is the first to create an international auction. We are ready to build on this experience and develop the first European action with the European Hydrogen Bank, open to all countries," Simson said.
Hydrogen Europe CEO Yorgo Chatsimarkakis stressed that Europe will need more renewable hydrogen than it can produce, especially for energy-intensive industries. In addition, imported hydrogen must be competitively priced.
Analysts at Aurora Energy Research have predicted that the cost of imported hydrogen from Australia, Chile and Morocco will be competitive with local hydrogen by 2030.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that the Hydrogen Bank will be launched in the EU from the fall of 2023 with an initial funding of €800 million, which is intended to partially subsidize the production of green hydrogen.
As EcoPolitic reported earlier, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that new gas power plants will be built in the country, which will run on hydrogen.
