HyNetherlands: an innovative project of common European interest
On September 21st, the European Commission announced that is has approved, under EU State aid rules, a second Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) wave to support research and innovation, first industrial deployment and construction of relevant infrastructure in the hydrogen value chain. The HyNetherlands project is one of eight Dutch projects which are part of this IPCEI wave ‘H2Use’.
The official notification by the European Commission is important for the HyNetherlands project. This notification is a requirement for the project to receive IPCEI funding from the Dutch government. Recently, the project has submitted a formal subsidy request in the national IPCEI tender for hydrogen production through electrolysis. The results of the tender are not yet known: the Dutch authorities are now in the process of assessing and ranking all submitted subsidy requests, to determine which projects will be granted funding. The total subsidy amount available in the tender is €783,5 million.
If selected by the Dutch authorities, the HyNetherlands project will contribute to diversifying already allocated European funds both geographically and in terms of applications. The project and its corresponding roadmap have all characteristics to lay the basis for Europe’s energy security of supply by a full decarbonized value chain, while ensuring future sound sector coupling and electrical and gas grid integration.