Tuesday 9 August 2022

EU greenlights €149m Romanian scheme to support renewable hydrogen production

A €149 million (£126m) scheme to support the production of renewable hydrogen in Romania has been granted approval by the European Commission.

The measure, which will run until 31st December 2023, will be partially funded through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and aims to support the construction of new facilities for green hydrogen production by 31st December 2025.

The hydrogen plants must have capacities of at least 100MW and produce at least 10,000 tonnes of hydrogen per year.

The scheme is open to companies of all sizes that are active in the production of hydrogen or electricity, administrative-territorial units or national institutes for research and development in the field of energy, including associations or partnerships.

The support will take the form of direct grants, with the maximum amount of aid granted per project not exceeding €50 million (£42.2m).

The measure aims to contribute to the development of green hydrogen in line with the EU Hydrogen Strategy and the EU Green Deal, whilst reducing dependence on Russian fossil fuels and accelerating the green transition.

Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “This €149 million scheme enables Romania to step up its renewable hydrogen production capacities, while limiting possible distortions of competition. Not only will the measure adopted today contribute to the achievement of the EU Hydrogen Strategy and the EU Green Deal ambitions.

“It will also help Romania in replacing natural gas, coal and oil in hard-to-decarbonise industries and transport sectors and in reducing its dependence on imported fossil fuels, in line with the REPowerEU Plan.”