Germany’s €2.2bn ($2.4bn) plans to decarbonise industry with green hydrogen and electrification have been approved by the European Commission.
Approved under the EU’s state aid rules, the €2.2bn support package will be offered as direct grants to companies looking to electrify industrial processes or offset fossil fuel use with renewable hydrogen or its derivatives.
Eligible projects must be able to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from production projects by at least 40% from today’s levels, with €200m ($215m) up for grabs per beneficiary.
With grants set to be awarded no later than December 31, 2025, the Commission has said the German funding is “necessary, appropriate and proportionate” to accelerate decarbonisation, in line with the bloc’s REPowerEU plan.
Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President, said the scheme will support industries investing in decarbonising, but noted it would “help Germany to reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels faster.”
The measure follows the European Council’s adoption of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) in 2023, setting mandatory targets to see renewable hydrogen make up 42% of hydrogen used in industrial processes by 2030 before increasing to 60% by 2035.
Read more: Renewable hydrogen to replace 42% of grey industrial hydrogen in EU by 2030
Last week the Commission approved a €350m German renewable hydrogen auction to subsidise the production of up to 75,000 tonnes of green hydrogen.
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