Argus – Austria seeks to boost hydrogen production, infrastructure
Austria’s government has detailed a plan to accelerate domestic production of renewable hydrogen and imports, through several pieces of regulation.
One bill would introduce a €20mn ($23.5mn) programme to provide capital cost subsidies for domestic electrolysis plants. A second would establish a certification for renewable hydrogen to be compliant with EU requirements, thereby ensuring that domestic output “is eligible for funding, internationally tradeable and credibly certified,” the economy and energy ministry said.
The bills are under review and could be enacted quickly, the ministry said.
Austria also wants to advance a regulatory framework for financing hydrogen infrastructure, such as pipelines and storage facilities.
One of the main hydrogen infrastructure projects in Austria is the SoutH2 corridor, planned to connect Tunisia and Algeria with Austria and Germany through Italy. The European section has been designated a Project of Common Interest (PCI) by the EU, which allows for permitting and funding benefits.
The Austrian ministry said SoutH2 could be operating by 2035, suggesting a more realistic target than the previously announced 2030.
Austria previously set aside up to €400mn for operating subsidies for domestic electrolysis projects through the European hydrogen bank’s auctions-as-a-service (AAAS) mechanism. The ministry will probably soon disclose the awardees of this, and a further €420mn could be made available in subsequent auctions.
Austria is targeting 1GW of installed electrolysis capacity by 2030, but — like many EU peers — is bound to fall well short of its goal.
Domestic plans recently suffered a setback when utility Verbund and nitrogen producer LAT Nitrogen called off a 60MW renewable hydrogen project in Linz that had secured money from the EU Innovation Fund.
By Pamela Machado
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Argus – Austria seeks to boost hydrogen production, infrastructure, source
