The European Commission has approved up to €5.2 billion in state aid for the hydrogen Hy2Use project, as part of its support for the development of a low carbon hydrogen economy and to reduce dependence on Russian natural gas.
Hy2Use is an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI), for which the Commission temporarily allows state aid to avoid market failure in strategic or risky sectors. It is the second of its kind in the hydrogen value chain, following the Hy2Tech project approved by in July.
The initiative includes 35 projects at 29 companies, to build infrastructure for the production, storage and transport of hydrogen, and for the development of hydrogen applications for energy-intensive industries, such as steel, cement and glass.
Within the scope of Hy2Use, the Commission wants to promote new electrolysis capacity of around 3.5 gigawatts, translating into an output of some 340,000 tons of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen per year. At the same time, it hopes to mobilise an additional €7 billion in private investment, to support the renewable hydrogen industry in scaling up.
