2024 Innovation Fund Grants: Hydrogen Projects Account for 30% of Total Awards

The EU Innovation Fund has awarded a grant allocation of €4.8 billion to 85 innovative projects, with hydrogen projects making up one-third of total awards. This significant funding initiative marks the largest allocation since the fund’s inception in 2020, increasing the overall support to €12 billion and expanding the number of projects by 70%.

Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, CEO of Hydrogen Europe, commented: “We are thrilled to see the significant commitment from the European Commission in supporting innovative hydrogen projects through the Innovation Fund.

Largest allocation since the fund’s inception

This €4.8 billion investment represents the largest allocation since the fund’s inception and underscores the vital role that hydrogen technologies play in achieving our decarbonisation goals. With nearly a third of the awarded projects focused on hydrogen, we are taking decisive steps towards enhancing Europe’s clean energy infrastructure.

The quadrupling of funded electrolyser capacity demonstrates the Commission’s commitment to securing essential goods and boosting the competitiveness of Europe’s clean tech industry.”

Hydrogen Europe welcomes the emphasis on hydrogen-related initiatives within this funding round. Among the awarded projects, 26 focus on hydrogen technologies, representing 30% of the total.

This group includes six large projects, four medium projects in the general category, twelve manufacturing projects, and four pilot projects.

In the manufacturing category, five projects will deploy proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysers, fuel cells, and components; three will utilize alkaline technology; two will implement solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOEC); one will employ anion exchange membrane (AEM) technology; and one project will focus on hydrogen storage.

Together they are set to generate 9.3 GW of electrolyser capacity representing a substantial increase on all previous Innovation Fund projects, which were projected to deliver 2.9 GW of capacity.

Meanwhile, the production projects selected in this call will deliver 61 kilotonnes of RFNBO annually, bringing the total yearly production supported by the Innovation Fund to 631.5 kilotonnes of RFNBO hydrogen.

The hydrogen projects are distributed across Europe with Belgium, Germany, Spain, Finland, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Estonia, Greece, and France among the recipients. Hydrogen Europe members are involved in nearly half of the awarded hydrogen projects and in several other successful consortiums.

Background 

The EU ETS Innovation Fund is one of the world’s largest funding programmes for deploying net-zero and innovative technologies. It is one of the key tools of the European Green Deal Industrial Plan. With an estimated revenue of €40 billion from the EU Emissions Trading System between 2020 and 2030, the Innovation Fund is designed to create financial incentives for companies and public authorities to invest in advanced net-zero and low-carbon technologies, supporting Europe’s transition to climate neutrality.

So far, the Innovation Fund has awarded about €7.2 billion to more than 120 innovative projects across the European Economic Area (EEA) through previous calls for proposals. 

The CINEA implements the Innovation Fund, while the European Investment Bank (EIB) provides development assistance to promising projects that need to mature sufficiently for Innovation Fund grants.  

The Innovation Fund’s 2023 call for proposals attracted 337 project applications, of which 283 were eligible and admissible for evaluation. Among the 85 selected projects, the Innovation Fund also supports projects in Estonia and Slovakia, enlarging the list of countries receiving funding.  

The next call for the Innovation Fund is anticipated to be launched on the 3rd of December, along with the second Innovation Fund Auction (Hydrogen Bank), with the total funding amount yet to be announced.