Press Release
Brussels, 4 December
Today, the European Commission launched the 3rd auction of the European Hydrogen Bank (EHB), with a budget of €1.3 billion supplemented by the mobilisation of another €1.7 billion from national budgets, bringing the total allocation to €3 billion.
This comes on top of the regular Innovation Fund call which will dedicate €2.9 billion for manufacturing of clean technologies and decarbonisation projects, meaning a cumulative €6 billion is potentially available to the hydrogen sector.
The EHB auction will allocate funds across multiple segments:
- €600 million allocated to a renewable fuel of non-biological origin (RFNBO) hydrogen basket,
- €400 million to a RFNBO and low-carbon hydrogen basket,
- €300 million for projects with offtakers in the maritime or aviation sector.
In addition, Germany and Spain have announced national top-up funds via the Auction-as-a-Service (AaaS) mechanism:
- Germany will contribute €1.3 billion for renewable hydrogen production that will flow into the Denmark–Germany pipeline, serving offtakers connected to the German Kernnetz.
- Spain will add €415 million (€278.6 million for renewable hydrogen and €136.4 million for the maritime and aviation basket), on top of the €487.5 million it allocated in the second auction.
These commitments underscore the growing importance of the AaaS model as a tool to scale national hydrogen projects across Member States, leveraging on the EU evaluation process. The deadline for bids to the 3rd auction is set for the 19 February 2026.
Furthermore, the European Commission launched the Innovation Fund 2025 (IF25) call for Net-Zero Technologies (regular grants). The total budget amounts to €2.9 billion, distributed across five topics:
- Cleantech (€1 billion),
- Large-scale projects (€1.2 billion),
- Medium-scale (€300 million),
- Pilot projects (€300 million),
- Small-scale projects (€100 million).
The cleantech, medium-scale, and pilot baskets have been increased by 40-50% each since IF24, while the large-scale and small-scale topics remain the same size. The deadline for the IF call is 23 April 2026.
Daniel Fraile, Chief Policy Officer of Hydrogen Europe, states: “The launch of the 3rd auction and call for grants is excellent news as we continue to support the growth of a decarbonised hydrogen market. We encourage the European Commission to continue supporting the Hydrogen Bank and Innovation Fund as a means of unlocking public and private investments into this important technology.”
Hydrogen Europe also welcomes:
- The opening of the EHB to low-carbon electrolytic hydrogen, in line with the Low-Carbon Delegated Act, as well as the increased funding share for maritime and aviation, two critical hard-to-abate sectors.
- Stricter project-readiness requirements, such as requiring developers to provide equity support, which will help ensure that only mature, investment-ready projects apply, reducing delays and enabling more realistic bids,
- The revision of cumulation rules, which now enable projects to access EU funding for their hydrogen consumption operational expenses, subject to safeguards against double funding.
However, we are concerned that the new resilience criteria, focused on components origin, creates loopholes for easy circumvention. This is a step back from the second auction’s process-based approach, which better captured real EU added value and safeguarded Europe’s industrial base.
We urge the European Commission to announce subsequent auctions and continue this valuable funding mechanism for the hydrogen sector.
For more information:
European Commission announcement: €5.2 billion of EU Emissions Trading revenues earmarked for clean transition technologies
Call document for 3rd EHB auction: Call document for the call “Innovation Fund fixed premium auction call 2025 for Hydrogen”
Call document for IF25 NZT call: Call document for the call “Innovation Fund call 2025 Net Zero Technologies”
European Hydrogen Bank
Link to Fixed Premium Auction for RFNBO hydrogen production call: EU Funding & Tenders Portal | EU Funding & Tenders Portal
Link to Fixed Premium Auction for RFNBO and/or electrolytic low-carbon hydrogen production call: EU Funding & Tenders Portal | EU Funding & Tenders Portal
Link to Fixed Premium Auction for RFNBO and/or electrolytic low-carbon hydrogen production for the maritime and aviation sectors call: EU Funding & Tenders Portal | EU Funding & Tenders Portal
Innovation Fund
Link to Innovation Fund 2025 Net Zero Technologies – General decarbonisation – Large-Scale Projects call: EU Funding & Tenders Portal | EU Funding & Tenders Portal
Link to Innovation Fund 2025 Net Zero Technologies – Pilot projects call: EU Funding & Tenders Portal | EU Funding & Tenders Portal
Link to Innovation Fund 2025 Net Zero Technologies – Clean-tech manufacturing call: EU Funding & Tenders Portal | EU Funding & Tenders Portal
Link to Innovation Fund 2025 Net Zero Technologies – General decarbonisation – Small-Scale Projects call: EU Funding & Tenders Portal | EU Funding & Tenders Portal
Link to Innovation Fund 2025 Net Zero Technologies – General decarbonisation – Medium-Scale Projects call: EU Funding & Tenders Portal | EU Funding & Tenders Portal