Germany selects hydrogen projects for $9.7bn in state support

Germany's economy and transport ministries have selected 62 large-scale hydrogen projects for more than €8bn ($9.7bn) in state and federal funding, they announced on May 28.

The projects were picked from a list of over 230 investment proposals, as part of the EU's Important Projects of Common European Interest initiative. They include over 2 GW of electrolyser projects, representing 40% of Germany's goal for electrolyser capacity by 2030, as well as 1,700 km of hydrogen pipelines, various projects to decarbonise the CO₂ intensive steel industry and the development of hydrogen fuel cell systems and vehicles, as well as hydrogen refuelling infrastructure.

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The economy and transport ministries are providing a combined €5.8bn in funds, while additional financing will come from federal states. The support will unlock €33bn in investment, the ministries said.

"We want to become the number one in the world in hydrogen technologies," German federal economics minister Peter Altmaier said in a statement, noting that the projects covered the entire hydrogen value chain. "We are thus taking a big step on the way to making our economy climate neutral," he said, adding: "a central area of this is the steel industry as well as the chemical industry."

"Green hydrogen and fuel cells are, across all modes of transport, a great addition to pure battery vehicles," federal transport minister Andreas Scheuer added. "The fact is we must and want to urgently promote the switch to climate-friendly mobility."

Germany is prioritising the development of green hydrogen rather than lower-cost blue hydrogen, even though the latter is also considered clean as its CO₂ emissions are captured and stored. The IEA estimates the cost of green hydrogen at €2.5-5.5/kg, and the cost of blue hydrogen at only €2/kg.