Spain – MITECO allocates 126 million in the first national auction to finance the production of ‘green’ hydrogen
The projects were shortlisted by the European Commission in the second general auction of the European Hydrogen Bank, but did not receive aid from the European budget as the funds ran out.
The Government maintains its firm commitment to renewable green H2 to replace fossil fuels and eliminate CO2 emissions from industry, heavy transport and other sectors that are difficult to decarbonize.
The Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has allocated €126.4 million from the Auction-as-a-Service (AaaS) mechanism to finance renewable hydrogen production for two projects located in the Valencian Community and Castile and León, according to the resolutions available here and here . These two initiatives have a combined electrolysis capacity of 160 MW and were shortlisted in the second general auction of the European Hydrogen Bank.
The resolutions correspond to the first national call for AaaS (Energy as a Service) projects, which opened a channel for funding projects shortlisted by the European Commission, based on the scoring order established by the European Union’s Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), but which had not received funding due to budget exhaustion. The grants from this first national call for AaaS projects are managed by the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE) , part of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), and financed by the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR).
The incentives are structured as subsidies for hydrogen produced and certified as 100% renewable –RFNBO, according to the Renewable Energy Directive–, for a maximum period of 10 years from the start of operations, in projects that respect the principle of not causing significant environmental damage at any stage. This is the first time in Spain that aid is being given not for investment in assets, but for the production of renewable H2.
SELECTED PROJECTS
The project with the largest budget has been ‘Orange.Bat’, which will receive €82.5 million in funding. It involves the construction of a renewable electrolytic hydrogen production plant in Onda (Castellón), which includes a 100 MW alkaline electrolyzer, with an estimated annual production of 11,960 tons. The electricity consumed will come from wind and solar farms and will supply 11 ceramic industries in the Valencian Community.
The ‘eM Numancia’ project, with an allocated grant of €43.9 million, involves the construction of a renewable electrolytic hydrogen production plant in Garray (Soria) for the production of green methanol. This methanol will be supplied to five industries in the chemical, timber, logistics, and maritime sectors. The project includes a 60 MW alkaline electrolyzer powered by wind and solar farms, with an estimated annual hydrogen production of 6,363 tons/year and 33,334 tons/year of green methanol.
Renewable H2, a national commitment
This national auction is part of the Government’s commitment to renewable hydrogen as a key factor in eliminating CO2 emissions from industry, heavy transport and other sectors that are difficult to decarbonize, and is consistent with the development of the PERTE for Renewable Energies, Hydrogen and Storage (ERHA).
To date, IDAE has granted aid to ‘green’ hydrogen projects totaling €2.721 billion, through programs such as H2 Pioneers, H2 Value Chain, H2 Valleys, and several waves of IPCEI (Important Projects of Common European Interest) launched by Brussels. In total, almost €3 billion of the PRTR funds and the Addendum have been allocated to green hydrogen, a key component of the decarbonization process and the creation of a comprehensive associated technological and industrial ecosystem, as outlined in the Renewable Hydrogen Roadmap and the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC).
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Spain – MITECO allocates 126 million in the first national auction to finance the production of ‘green’ hydrogen, source
