The funding aims to contribute to the development of renewable hydrogen in line with the objectives of the EU Hydrogen Strategy and the European Green Deal. It will also contribute to the objectives of the REPowerEU Plan to end dependence on Russian fossil fuels and fast forward the green transition, says the EC.

The Dutch scheme will support the construction of at least 60 MW of electrolysis capacity. The aid will be awarded through a competitive bidding process to be concluded in 2023. The tender will be open to all companies established in the European Economic Area and operating, or wishing to build and operate, a hydrogen production unit in the Netherlands.

The aid will take the form of a direct grant for a 7–15-year period. Beneficiaries will have to prove compliance with EU criteria for the production of renewable fuels of non-biological origin, set out in recently adopted delegated acts on renewable hydrogen.

The scheme will contribute to the Netherlands’s efforts to achieve 500 MW of electrolyser capacity in 2025 and 3–4 GW by 2030. It will also support the EU’s ambitions to install at least 6 GW of electrolyser capacity and the production of up to 1mn tonnes of renewable hydrogen by 2024, and at least 40 GW with a production of up to 10mn tonnes of domestic renewable hydrogen in the EU by 2030.

The Netherlands expects that the scheme will avoid around 55,000 tonnes of CO₂ every year until 2030.