The European Commission has published draft terms and conditions for the fourth European Hydrogen Bank auction, planned for end-2026 with a €500 million budget.
The procurement exercise will maintain competitive bidding and fixed-premium support while introducing strengthened eligibility requirements, including electrolyzer supply-chain resilience, cybersecurity, ans state aid compliance.
The European Commission has published this week the draft terms and conditions of the 4th hydrogen auction.
According to the document, the European Hydrogen Bank will launch the auction by the end of this year, with a proposed budget of €500 million ($571.6 million). Around €350 million will be allocated to support the production of renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO) hydrogen, while the remaining €150 million will be devoted to the production of RFNBO hydrogen and/or electrolytic low-carbon hydrogen.
The scheme will use output-based support in the form of a fixed premium, with payments based on verified hydrogen production over a ten-year period. Projects will be ranked according to their bid price, with the subsidy calculated based on the requested premium, production volumes, and installed electrolyzer capacity.
