Kickoff for Expansion: Federal and state governments are investing billions in hydrogen infrastructure. The 23 funded projects are part of the so-called Hy2Infra wave of IPCEI Hydrogen (Important Projects of Common European Interest). The European Commission approved the state aid on February 15.
The funding amounts to 4.6 billion euros, pledged by Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck and the economic ministers of the ten participating federal states. An additional 3.3 billion euros in private investments are expected to follow, bringing the total volume to approximately 7.9 billion euros by 2030.
If the projects are implemented as planned, it would be a significant step for the German hydrogen industry. The figures highlight the potential: overall, the projects are expected to provide an electrolysis capacity of up to 14 GW, 2,000 kilometers of pipelines, 370 GWh of storage capacity, and LOHC terminals capable of handling up to 1,800 tons per year.
Around 30% of the funds are provided by the participating federal states. A look at the list shows that the focus is on northern and eastern Germany (Lower Saxony, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Hamburg, Bremen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria, Saarland). Another portion comes from the German Reconstruction and Resilience Plan (DARP), which in turn uses funds from the European Union's Recovery and Resilience Facility NextGenerationEU.
The funding of the 23 Hy2Infra projects is part of the National Hydrogen Strategy, which the federal government updated about a year ago. Additionally, Berlin plans to promptly adopt an import strategy for hydrogen and its derivatives. This strategy is intended to provide "clarity" on the exact import needs and serve as a guideline for the international establishment of hydrogen partnerships and import corridors.
