The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a deal with Hydrogen Europe—an umbrella organisation representing the EU hydrogen sector—to provide financial advisory support and financing products for nascent green hydrogen projects.

The EIB can combine advisory and technical support in the initial phases of a project, followed by concrete forms of financing later on, according to the bank’s president, Werner Hoyer.

“This model is perfect for the development and deployment of new breakthrough technologies, including those based on the use of hydrogen,” he says.

"This model is perfect for the development and deployment of new breakthrough technologies" Hoyer, EIB

The EIB has already provided over €2bn ($2.4bn) in advisory and financial support to projects that use hydrogen technologies, including large-scale electrolysers, carbon capture and storage, and hydrogen refuelling stations.

The EU’s hydrogen strategy aims to enable widespread use of hydrogen by 2050. It projects the share of hydrogen in Europe’s energy mix to grow from less than 2pc currently to 13-14pc by 2050.

The strategy anticipates that between €180bn and €470bn will be required to develop production capacity.

“Consequently, investments in renewable or low-carbon hydrogen will need to increase,” says the statement from the EIB and Hydrogen Europe.

Hydrogen Europe is one of the participants in the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU), a public-private partnership with the European Commission working to facilitate the market introduction of clean hydrogen technologies in Europe.

The EIB has signed a similar deal with French hydrogen body France Hydrogene.

The bank has distributed finance for clean energy projects from revenues raised by the EU Emissions Trading System for a number of years.

---

Author: Tom Young