French government has unveiled its first-ever clean hydrogen tender as part of a Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme. Announced by Agnès Pannier-Runacher, France's Minister for Ecological Transition, the scheme offers a promising subsidy of up to €4 per kilogram for 15 years, targeting hydrogen production that utilizes renewable and nuclear energy sources.

This initiative is primarily aimed at bolstering hydrogen supply for direct industrial applications.

Scheduled to close on 14 March 2025, the competitive tender focuses on supporting electrolytic hydrogen projects that fall within the 5MW to 100MW range, cumulatively not exceeding 200MW. The government’s strategy involves selecting up to 12 projects during the initial phase based on a thorough assessment of their technical and financial capabilities.

It aims to support projects for the production of hydrogen by water electrolysis, with an electrical power of between 5 MW and 100 MW, located on the national territory and whose production is mainly intended for direct industrial uses.

This support will take the form of the granting of financial aid proportional to the quantity of decarbonized hydrogen produced over a maximum period of fifteen years.

The cumulative electrical power of the winning projects will be limited to 200 MW at most for this first call for tenders.

A maximum of twelve candidates will be selected, after examination of their technical and financial capacities, to participate in a competitive dialogue phase. At the end, the candidates will prepare their offer according to specifications which will be specified in the light of the discussions conducted during the competitive dialogue.

ADEME will be the ministry's operator for conducting this procedure.