With the presentation on May 28, 2021 of Germany’s selection of 62 projects, that would compete for EU Commission’s approval to become part of a EU Hydrogen Important Project of Common European Interest, the so called IPCEI’s, Europe got a first glimpse of where hydrogen will proof its worth in EU energy transition.

The German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Technology (BMWI) and the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (BMVI) together will put 8 bln Euro until 2030 on the table to fund the  62 major projects;  4.4 billion euros come from the budget of BMWI for mostly , BMVI is funding twelve projects in the mobility sector with 1,4 bln,  and 2,2 bln will come from the individual German Länder.

The Russian government announced on June 2, 2021  to invest a total of 8,8 bln in eletric vehicles of which of  1,7 bln Euro in the development  hydrogen vehicles and hydrogen technology by 2030. In 2019, just 353 electric vehicles were sold in Russia, compared to 687 in 2020.

22 Member States plus Norway, who decided to form a European Hydrogen IPCEI on December 17, 2021 have embarked on frantic exercise to collect national IPCEI potential projects, that will have a ball kicked off on June 8, 2021  in matchmaking to ensure a spot in the first wave of IPCEI projects set to be published this July.  Spearheaded by Germany and France that mimmicks the Battery IPCEI set up in 2019, the aim of the IPCEI on Hydrogen is to “to support the development of a European value chain for green hydrogen in particular and to invest the necessary billions of euros in this new key enabling technology.”