European national hydrogen associations commend the European Commission and CINEA for establishing the European Hydrogen Bank (EHB), a key instrument to support decarbonisation in major industries.

While the first auction rounds showed strong interest, they also revealed issues such as unrealistically low bids, project withdrawals, and underutilisation of funds.

Although new safeguards to improve project credibility are welcomed, associations argue they are insufficient. Strict requirements and market uncertainty, especially around hydrogen offtake, may discourage viable projects.
Greater flexibility is needed, particularly when delays are caused by external factors like slow implementation of EU regulations, for example REDIII.

A major concern is that funding has not been fully allocated due to speculative or weak bids.
In the second auction, only €300 million of €1.2 billion was effectively used. Although national schemes and the Auction-as-a-Service mechanism have helped fund some projects, many credible projects failed to receive support due to limited reallocation.

The signatory associations therefore call on the Commission to extend the reallocation mechanism to ensure the full use of available funding, to prevent the recurrence of under-allocation in future auctions, and to continue the EHB beyond the third round with at least three additional auction cycles.

Consistent funding rounds and improved allocation mechanisms are crucial to maintaining investor confidence and advancing Europe’s hydrogen sector.