Jun 02, 2023
Germany, EU join forces on green hydrogen funding

Germany is set to extend its international hydrogen purchasing scheme, H2 Global, to all EU member states in a bid to drive green hydrogen development, Kallanish reports.

On Wednesday, German economic affairs and climate change minister Robert Habeck and European commissioner for energy Kadri Simson agreed to link H2Global with the new European Hydrogen Bank. They discussed the matter during a meeting in Lower Saxony, Germany, where they visited Salzgitter’s hydrogen-based steelmaking project.

H2Global and the new bank will also jointly develop a European auction open to all member states, focusing on international hydrogen imports. In a statement, Habeck added that the country will invest over €5 billion ($5.35 billion) towards this in the coming years.

“We definitely need this step forward in order to remain credible with the implementation of the EU Hydrogen Strategy,” comments Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, chief executive of Hydrogen Europe. “We will need more renewable hydrogen than we can produce inside the EU in the required timeframe, particularly for the hardest to abate sectors. And we also need it at a competitive price.”

Germany launched H2Global in 2021 to boost the global green hydrogen market. The scheme facilitates the purchase of green hydrogen and its derivatives at competitive prices in the global market and sells it to the EU’s highest bidder. The German government is already offering €900 million in funding through initial auctions.

Reethu Ravi London

Source: Eurometal