Yesterday, the European Commission authorized the injection of 5,400 million euros in public aid to Hy2Tech, a macro research and innovation project on the hydrogen value chain with the participation of 15 countries, Spain among them, a decision with which it is intended to promote European industrial policy and accelerate the energy transition to avoid the possible closure of the Russian gas tap.
“Hydrogen has great potential for the future. It is an indispensable component for the diversification of energy sources and the green transition. Investing in these innovative technologies can, however, be risky for a single Member State or a single company”, explained the Vice President and Head of Competition, Margrethe Vestager, to justify the need to support these projects with State aid. "That's where they have a role to play," she said.
The Hy2Tech is what is known as an Important Project of Common European Interest or Ipcei, for its acronym in English, a community instrument to promote industrial collaboration between countries in key technological fields, such as hydrogen or photovoltaic energy. In this case, 15 EU member states participate: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Slovakia, as well as Spain.
The Ipcei includes 41 projects in which 35 companies with different profiles participate, including the Spanish Sener, Iveco Spain, Nordex and H2B2. The objective of the European alliance is to delve into all aspects of the clean hydrogen value chain, from generation to storage or the development of applications for the mobility sector through the production of new materials for high-efficiency electrodes, batteries more efficient fuel or transportation technologies.
The injection of 5.4 billion euros in state aid will serve as an incentive to mobilize, according to Brussels calculations, another 8.8 billion euros from the private sector, a massive investment that is expected to create 20,000 jobs.
The war in Ukraine has given greater strategic value to this research and innovation project in the energy sector, Vestager noted. “It's made it really important that we accelerate what we already had planned,” he said. In September Brussels will give the green light to another Ipcei also in the field of clean hydrogen.
"Together, they will increase the industrial supply and demand for hydrogen on a large scale like never before," said the Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, who recalled that the EU's objective is to produce ten million tons of clean hydrogen. in 2030, which will make it possible to replace 40,000 million cubic meters of Russian gas.
