The Spanish ministry for the ecological transition on Tuesday released the rules and criteria for its next green hydrogen subsidy programme, which, with a budget of EUR 1.2 billion (USD 1.29bn), will fund larger-sized projects and the installation of more powerful electrolysers.

As announced just days ago, the new round of state aid will support the establishment of large green hydrogen valleys or clusters and help promote large-scale production and consumption of electrolytic hydrogen and its derivatives. This programme follows previously granted lines of aid in several domestic competitive procedures for smaller hydrogen production and mobility schemes and the recently approved disbursement of EUR 794 million for Spain-based hydrogen IPCEIs selected by the European Commission.

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For this new competition, bidders vying for a piece of the EUR-1.2-billion pie will have to meet, among others, the following requirements:

-- secure a prior commitment from customer(s) for the purchase of at least 60% of the hydrogen or hydrogen derivatives production;

-- set up electrolysers with a capacity of at least 100 MW;

-- provide a guarantee that the hydrogen is produced from renewable sources;

-- fulfill non-technical criteria, such as promoting job creation, gender equality, socio-economic development, SME involvement, circular economy, emissions reduction, etc.

The rules also state that single project may cover several physical or geographical locations where green hydrogen is produced, as long as they are located in the same hydrogen valley or in close proximity to each other. A maximum limit of 100 kilometres (62.1 miles) is set between two different electrolysis facilities to be considered as part of the same project. In this case, each hydrogen production site must have a minimum capacity of 50 MW and will be referred to as an “installation” for the purposes of the obligations set out in the rules, the ministry said.

The most a single project or company can receive is EUR 400 million.

The funding for the programme is provided by the Next GenerationEU facility. The Institute for Diversification and Saving of Energy (IDAE), the ministry’s implementing agency, will be in charge of administering the aid and will launch a call for proposals shortly.