The projects, equal to 1.88 GW of electrolyzing capacity, were withdrawn after they chose not to continue with the agreement procedure or because they could not offer a signed completion guarantee. As a result, ten hydrogen projects that represent 774 MW in capacity of the reserve list have been invited to prepare subsidy agreements.
The European Commission has confirmed that seven of the 15 projects selected for subsidies under the second auction round of the European hydrogen bank have been withdrawn from the subsidy scheme.
The seven projects form 1.88 GW of new electrolyzing capacity, which represent most of the 2.3 GW that were granted in May under the auction round, which has assigned € 992 million ($ 1.16 billion) of the available € 1.2 billion.
According to the analysis of S&P Global, the committee explained in an update that the seven projects chose not to continue the procedure of the subsidy agreement or were unable to provide the signed completion guarantee.
The withdrawn projects consist of four based in Spain, two in Germany and one in the Netherlands and had a fixed premium bid prices between € 0.20/kg and € 0.60/kg.
Among them is the 560 MW Zeevonk Electrolyser project in the Netherlands, which confirmed last month’s withdrawal due to the delays of infrastructure that pushes back the expected completion date. The 367.5 MW Kaskade project, belonging to Meridiam Sas in Germany, and Galena Renovables’ 252 MW Villamartin H2 project in Spain are also on the list.
As a result of the recordings, ten projects of the committee’s reserve list have been invited to draw up subsidy agreements. The projects, of which eight are located in Spain, together with each in Germany and Portugal, have a fixed premium bid prices between € 0.64/kg and € 1.22/kg and a combined electrolyzing capacity of 774 MW.
These selected projects will now be obliged to sign a completion guarantee within three months of receiving their invitation to sign a subsidy agreement, equal to 8% of the total grant application.
The committee has said that all subsidy agreements under the second auction round will be signed by the end of the year, after which the projects will have to reach financially within 2.5 years and have to start production within five years. Once operational, the projects receive their fixed Premium subsidy per kilogram of renewable hydrogen produced for a period of ten years.
According to the Commission website, a third auction of the hydrogen bank is planned for the end of the year with a budget of a maximum of € 1 billion.
Earlier this month, a report from the Hydrogen Council found that global investments in hydrogen have reached $ 110 billion, of which $ 19 billion from Europe.
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