Six projects selected in the 2024 Innovation Fund Auction for renewable hydrogen production (IF24 Auction) have signed their grant agreements, receiving a total of €270.6 million, sourced from EU Emissions Trading System revenues. Two of these projects were awarded under the dedicated maritime topic, receiving more than €35 million to supply renewable hydrogen to maritime off-takers.
The auction operates under the domestic pillar of the European Hydrogen Bank, which aims to scale up European hydrogen production and strengthen market integration. It supports the replacement of natural gas, coal and oil in hard-to-decarbonise industries and transport sectors. The awarded funding will help these projects bridge the difference between their production costs and the price that industrial users are willing to pay for their product. This market-based design also aims to reduce risks for investors and lessen the administrative burden for applicants.
The hydrogen produced is renewable fuel of non-biological origin (RFNBO) and is expected to be used in key sectors like the chemical industry and mobility, mostly in helping decarbonise maritime and heavy-duty transport. Together, these projects are projected to produce around 500 kilotonnes of renewable hydrogen, cutting almost 3.4 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions over an operational period of 10 years.
The projects are located in Spain, Finland and Norway, and will install a total of 381.25 megawatts of electrolyser capacity. The individual grant values range from €135.5 million to €1.8 million for installations with a megawatt electric (MWe) capacity from 5 to 200 MWe. The awarded projects presented bids going from €0.33 to €1.88 per kilogram of RFNBO Hydrogen.
The projects that have signed grant agreements:
| Kristinestad PtX | Koppö Energia Oy | Finland | 258 | 1,763 | 0.33 | 200 |
| H2CRI | GREEN DEVCO ENERGY 6, S.L.U. | Spain | 30 | 204 | 0.44 | 30 |
| NOON | IBERDROLA CLIENTES | Spain | 161 | 1,104 | 0.84 | 120 |
| GH2Move-VLC | Diverxia Infraestructuras S.L | Spain | 2 | 15 | 0.85 | 5 |
| RjukanH2 | NORWEGIAN HYDROGEN AS | Norway | 29 | 201 | 0.45 | 18.75 |
| HammerfestH2 | GREEN H AS | Norway | 12 | 80 | 1.88 | 7.5 |
** Calculated based on the 2021-2025 ETS benchmark of 6.84 tons CO2e/tH2, not taking into account additional carbon abatement due to substitution effects in the H2 end use application (i.e conservative estimate)
Auctions as a Service
In parallel, Spain, Lithuania, and Austria allocated €836 million in national funding for projects in their countries through the Innovation Fund’s ‘Auctions-as-a-service‘ feature. This allows Member States to identify and fund eligible projects in their territories that meet the qualification criteria but cannot be funded by the Innovation Fund due to budgetary limitations.
‘Auctions-as-a-Service’ is open to all Member States, enabling them to benefit from the EU-level auction platform and award national funding to additional projects with a simplified procedure. Projects awarded by participating Member States will be announced by the respective national authorities.
Next Steps
The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) will accompany the projects throughout the development phase, ensuring compliance with Innovation Fund requirements and supporting smooth progress toward financial close and construction.
The IF24 Auction will provide a fixed premium per kilogram of certified and verified renewable hydrogen (RFNBO) produced. Signed projects must reach financial close within two and a half years and start producing renewable hydrogen within five years. They will receive the fixed premium for up to ten years, based on certified and verified RFNBO hydrogen production.
The Hydrogen Bank is already working on the next cycle: the third Innovation Fund Hydrogen Auction was launched on 4 December 2025 with a budget of up to €1.3 billion. The deadline to submit proposals is 19 February, 17:00 CET via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.
Background
The Innovation Fund is one of the world’s largest funding programmes for the deployment of innovative net-zero technologies, with an estimated budget of €40 billion from the revenues of auctioning allowances under the EU Emissions Trading System between 2020 and 2030.
The European Hydrogen Bank is an initiative to facilitate the EU’s domestic production and imports of renewable hydrogen. It aims to unlock private investment in the EU and in third countries by addressing investment challenges, closing the funding gap, and connecting a future renewable hydrogen supply to consumers.
Under the first renewable hydrogen auction (IF23 Auction), six projects signed their grant agreements in 2024 and five of them have now entered the implementation phase, producing renewable hydrogen used in sectors such as steel, chemicals, maritime transport and fertilisers.
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