London — Germany's energy ministry has received around 200 hydrogen project proposals seeking funding under the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) program, it said Feb. 25.
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Register NowThe IPCEI call was launched Dec. 17 by 22 EU member states and Norway to help kick-start a European hydrogen economy. The deadline for schematic proposals to the ministry was Feb. 19. Projects from all German regions applied, the ministry said, underlining strong willingness to invest.
Related story: France launches hydrogen council, 3.2 GW of electrolyzer projects seek IPCEI funding
No list of project was published. Next steps in the process involve match-making workshops leading to pre-notification by May 2021.
Member states and the EC aim for a final decision on the projects by end-2021.
The German government on Feb. 10 approved interim regulation for hydrogen networks as part of a wider reform of the energy industry act (EnWG). The country has a 5 GW electrolyzer target for 2030, of which 2 GW was reserved for transport applications. The national strategy is backed by a Eur7 billion ($8.4 billion) funding pledge from the federal budget.
German projects declaring an application for funding include a second hydrogen hub planned by Uniper and Siemens Energy at Hamburg-Moorburg involving a 200 MWe electrolyzer, a 300 MWth thermal storage unit and a hydrogen-fired gas-turbine, the companies said Feb. 24.
ThyssenKrupp and Steag on Feb. 25 said they proposed a 500 MW electrolyzer at Duisburg-Walsum, Europe's biggest steel site.
The HydrOxy Hub Walsum project is not solely linked to funding as an IPCEI, it said. "Irrespective of the outcome of the proceedings, the project partners are continuing to press ahead with the feasibility study for the project," it said.
Both Walsum and Moorburg are former coal plant sites that were awarded closure compensation in Germany's first coal closure auction in Dec. 2020.
HYDROGEN ELECTROLYZER PROJECTS SEEKING IPCEI FUNDING
Source: S&P Global Platts, developers (list incomplete)
