Background
The Innovation Fund 2024 Hydrogen Auction (IF24 Auction) offered a total budget of €1.2 billion to support producers of RFNBO (renewable fuel of non-biological origin) hydrogen located in the European Economic Area (EEA), which includes the EU27, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. Projects had to compete to receive support in the form of a fixed premium payment upon production of certified and verified hydrogen (EUR/kg RFNBO hydrogen), for a maximum period of 10 years of operation.
After being evaluated on admissibility, eligibility, and quality criteria (i.e., technical, financial and operational maturity), projects were ranked based on their price from low to high. Once they sign grant agreements, awarded projects must reach financial close within 2.5 years and start production within 5 years.
The Auction opened on 3 December 2024 and closed on 20 February 2025. This was the second auction organised under the umbrella of the European Hydrogen Bank, after the IF23 Auction. The IF24 Auction offered the option to allocate additional national funds to support projects using Auctions-as-a-Service (AaaS).
Projects Invited to Grant Agreement Preparation (GAP)
After evaluating the 61 submitted bids, the Commission published on 20 May 2025 a list of 15 projects that were invited to sign a grant agreement with the European Climate, Infrastructure, and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), the Innovation Fund’s implementing body.
Invited projects were required to provide CINEA with a signed completion guarantee within two months of receiving their invitation, which is activated at grant agreement signature. The guarantee aims to ensure that the project is implemented according to the conditions of the auction. This is part of the Commission’s due diligence to protect public funds from projects bids that are not sufficiently mature.
In light of this requirement, several of the 15 originally invited projects reassessed their submitted bids and maturity levels, and decided not to move forward with the signature of their grant agreements. In response, CINEA invited additional projects from the auction’s reserve list to start grant agreement preparation. These projects were invited in strict order of their price bid ranking.
On 20 January 2026, six projects signed grant agreements under the IF24 Auction, receiving a total of €270.6 million in support.
For more information on the GAP process, please refer to the dedicated Questions & Answers (Q&A).
Results
The following tables provide an overview of selected projects, and the outcome after selection and preparation of grant agreements. It also provides the list of projects that were invited but later withdrew from grant agreement preparation.
| Status | Project name | Coordinator | Country | Bid volume (kt_H2 / 10 yrs) | Expected GHG avoidance** (kt_CO2 / 10 yrs) | Bid price (EUR/kg) | Bid capacity (MWe) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GENERAL TOPIC | |||||||
| Signed Grant Agreement | Kristinestad PtX | Koppö Energia Oy | Finland | 258 | 1,763 | 0.33 | 200 |
| Signed Grant Agreement | H2CRI | GREEN DEVCO ENERGY 6, S.L.U. | Spain | 30 | 204 | 0.44 | 30 |
| Signed Grant Agreement | NOON | IBERDROLA CLIENTES | Spain | 161 | 1,104 | 0.84 | 120 |
| Signed Grant Agreement | GH2Move-VLC | Diverxia Infraestructuras S.L | Spain | 2 | 15 | 0.85 | 5 |
| Withdrawn | VILLAMARTIN H2 | GALENA RENOVABLES 6, S.L. | Spain | 126 | 859 | 0.20 | 252 |
| Withdrawn | PUERTO SERRANO H2 | GALENA RENOVABLES 7, S.L. | Spain | 49 | 337 | 0.25 | 98 |
| Withdrawn | SolWinHy Cadiz | Viridi RE GmbH | Spain | 63 | 431 | 0.40 | 80 |
| Withdrawn | H2LZ | IGNIS HIDROGENO ALFA | Spain | 26 | 179 | 0.41 | 20 |
| Withdrawn | AGS | ARMONIA GREEN SEVILLA | Spain | 238 | 1,631 | 0.41 | 198 |
| Withdrawn | AGG280 | ARMONIA GREEN GALICIA, S.L. | Spain | 238 | 1,629 | 0.42 | 198 |
| Withdrawn | KASKADE | Meridiam SAS | Germany | 354 | 2,424 | 0.45 | 367.5 |
| Withdrawn | H2-Hub Lubmin | H2-Hub Lubmin GmbH | Germany | 238 | 1,628 | 0.47 | 210 |
| Withdrawn | TORDESILLASH2 | Elawan Energy | Spain | 17 | 115 | 0.48 | 15 |
| Withdrawn | Zeevonk electrolyser | Zeevonk Electrolyser | Netherlands | 411 | 2,812 | 0.60 | 560 |
| Withdrawn | ROSE | IBERDROLA CLIENTES PORTUGAL UNIPESSOAL LDA. | Portugal | 168 | 1,148 | 0.64 | 120 |
| Withdrawn | H2CEF | GREEN DEVCO ENERGY 6, S.L.U. | Spain | 19 | 128 | 0.78 | 20 |
| Withdrawn | Tharsis-ELY-1 | Cepsa Sustainable Fuels, S.L. | Spain | 105 | 719 | 0.80 | 80 |
| Withdrawn | ARANDAH2 | FOREST POWER ARANDA SL | Spain | 64 | 440 | 0.98 | 45 |
| Withdrawn | Arteixo H2V | ACCIONAPLUG S.L. | Spain | 12 | 83 | 1.10 | 10 |
| Withdrawn | GreenWHV ELY | UH2 | Germany | 208 | 1,426 | 1.19 | 200 |
| Withdrawn | ATLAS | RECISOL | Spain | 60 | 408 | 1.20 | 50 |
| Withdrawn | H2BRISA | H2 LOS BARRIOS, S.A. | Spain | 139 | 949 | 1.22 | 125 |
| MARITIME TOPIC | |||||||
| Signed Grant Agreement | RjukanH2 | NORWEGIAN HYDROGEN AS | Norway | 29 | 201 | 0.45 | 18.75 |
| Signed Grant Agreement | HammerfestH2 | GREEN H AS | Norway | 12 | 80 | 1.88 | 7.5 |
| Withdrawn | Gen2-LH2 | Gen2 Energy AS | Norway | 104 | 714 | 0.59 | 82.21 |
** Calculated based on the 2021-2025 ETS benchmark of 6.84 tons CO2e/tH2, not taking into account additional carbon abatement due to substitution effects in the H2 end use application (i.e conservative estimate)
Once their grant agreement is signed, projects must reach financial close within 2.5 years and start production within 5 years. Projects will receive payments for up to 10 years only upon certification and verification of renewable hydrogen production (i.e., not before Entry into Operation).
Beyond the selected projects
Please consult our dedicated slides to get a more detailed overview of the auction’s results.
Results of IF24 Auction
For more information about the design of the auction call and the application process, please use the links below:
Timeline
- 20.01.2026Final auction results and award
- Six projects, including two under the marmite topic, signed grant agreements totaling up to €270.6 million in support.
- The awarded projects presented bids going from €0.33 to €1.88 per kilogram of RFNBO Hydrogen. The individual grant values range from €135.5 million to €1.8 million for installations with a megawatt electric (MWe) capacity from 5 to 200 MWe
- 16/09/2025Update on the auction result
Eight of the initially selected 15 projects are moving forward with grant agreement preparation. CINEA invited an additional 10 renewable hydrogen projects from the reserve list under the general topic to start preparing grant agreements.
Projects in the general topic that are preparing grant agreements requested support between €1.8 million and €248.1 million in grants per project, with bids ranging between €0.33 and €1.22 per kilogramme of renewable hydrogen produced.
- 20/05/2025Publication of Auction Results
The Commission selected and invited to grant agreement preparation 15 renewable hydrogen production projects requesting a total of €992 million in EU support, with individual subsidies ranging from €8 million to €246 million.
The 15 initially selected projects included 12 projects selected under the general topic, with bids ranging from €0.20 to €0.60 per kilogramme of renewable hydrogen produced and three projects selected under the maritime topic, with bids ranking between 0.45 and €1.88 per kilogramme.
- 20/02/2025Deadline to submit all applications
The IF24 Auction received a total of 61 bids, including 8 bids for the maritime topic, from 11 different countries. The projects were then evaluated by the European Climate, Infrastructure, and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), the Innovation Fund’s implementing body.
- 03/12/2024Auction Opening
The Auction opened with a total budget of €1.2 billion, including a novel dedicated budget of €200 million for projects with off-takers in the maritime sector.
- 18/11/2024Spain, Lithuania and Austria join ‘Auctions-as-a-Service'
These Member States will collectively deploy a total over €8800 million in national funds to support renewable hydrogen production projects located in their countries.
- 14/11/2024Innovation Fund Expert Group Meeting
Presentation of the IF24 Auction after stakeholder feedback.
- 27/06/2024Innovation Fund Expert Group Meeting
Presentation of the IF23 Auction results, as well as the draft IF24 Auction’s Terms and Conditions and Auctions-as-a-Service
- 12/06/2024Innovation Fund Stakeholder Consultation
An event to present the draft Terms and Conditions for the IF24 Auction and to collect feedback from stakeholders.