Eleven winners have been selected in the recent green hydrogen auction conducted by the Dutch government to give subsidies for electrolysers. These subsidies are expected to reduce the price gap between grey and green hydrogen. The winning bidders, with a combined capacity of 602 MW, have to complete their projects by 2030.

The companies awarded OWE subsidies are:

  • Air Liquide Industrie (Rotterdam)
  • Circul8 Waterstof Fabriek (Lelystad)
  • Den Tol Duurzaam (Gendringen)
  • Essent Hydrogen (Deventer)
  • Eurus Energy Europe (Veendam)
  • FR Energyhubs (Steenwijk)
  • H2Eron (Delfzijl)
  • Statkraft Renewables Benelux (Den Helder)
  • Uniper Hydrogen Netherlands (Rotterdam)
  • Vattenfall (Eemshaven)
  • Westfalen Waterstof (Zutphen)

A total of nearly Euro 1 billion in subsidies was available for this second round of green hydrogen subsidies. This auction witnessed applications for for over Euro 3.2 billion out of which subsidies amounting to Euro 700 million in total will be disbursed. The entire Euro 1 billion amount is not being utilised as a few projects were found to be unfeasible. The average subsidy amount for the 11 winning projects is Euro 1.78 million per MW of electrolyser capacity. 

This is the second round of the subsidy scheme for large-scale hydrogen production using an electrolyser (OWE). The subsidies are intended for companies building electrolysers of 0.5 MW or larger to produce green hydrogen, which will be used by refineries, the chemical industry, and fuel stations to reduce carbon emissions.

REGlobal’s Views: The Netherlands has been making significant efforts to scale up green hydrogen uptake in order to help decarbonise its energy-intensive industries and transport. This particular OWE subsidy scheme for large-scale hydrogen production using an electrolyser takes into account both the investment and the operating phases of a green hydrogen project. Thus, winners get grants to help build the facility as well as produce hydrogen using renewable energy, to make these projects financially viable and competitive with grey hydrogen projects.