The EU Maritime H2 auction, of which the EU he Commission published the final Terms and Conditions on September 27, 2024 as part of the second EU auction for the production of renewable hydrogen (IF24 Auction), via the Innovation Fund. will be ablte for the first time to attack the OPEX costs of mobile applications significantly. This auction, which is a key pillar of the European Hydrogen Bank (EHB), provides financial support to producers of hydrogen categorised as Renewable Fuel of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBO). This time the EU Commission DG CLIMA decided to include a transport sector next to industrial demand.
The auction will open on 3 December 2024 and will award up to €1.2 billion support to renewable hydrogen producers located in the European Economic Area (EEA). Building upon the success of last year’s pilot auction (IF23 Auction), the second auction will further contribute to the creation of a European market for renewable hydrogen by de-risking investments with public support.
The successful bidders under the IF24 Auction will receive a fixed premium in €/kg of renewable hydrogen produced, over a maximum of ten years of operation. The Innovation Fund support will bridge the gap between production costs and the price that off-takers’ are ready to pay for renewable hydrogen .
The Terms and Conditions for the second auction include new resilience requirements, building on the lessons of the pilot auction and facilitating a contribution of EU funding to the objectives of the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA). Projects will be evaluated on a new criterion: “Achieving security of supply of essential goods and contribution to Europe’s industrial leadership and competitiveness”. The Commission will also ensure that support is provided to safe production processes in Europe through appropriate safety and cyber-security requirements.
Other key features of the T&Cs for the second auction include:
The CTC Network promotes the accelerated transfer of environmentally sound technologies for low carbon and climate resilient development at the request of developing countries.
