German government subsidises major hydrogen projects

The German economy and transportation ministries revealed on Friday the country’s hydrogen projects that will be eligible for funding as part of the Important Projects of Common European Interests (IPCEI) initiative.

In total, the government is allocating €8 billion ($9.8 billion) for a total of 62 projects nationwide, which include those by the main steelmakers, thyssenkrupp, ArcelorMittal, Salzgitter and Dillinger/Saarstahl, Kallanish learns.

“We very much welcome the German government’s decision to support our innovative projects … in Bremen, Eisenhüttenstadt and Hamburg,” says ArcelorMittal Europe chief executive Geert Van Poelvoorde.

With the implementation of the three projects the company can save more than six million tonnes of CO2 annually by 2030, ArcelorMittal says. The projects are now entering the next stage of the so-called “match making” process at European level, it adds.

However, the company notes that start-up financing of production costs will be necessary until the new technologies become economically self-carrying. Along similar lines, German steel federation WV Stahl has welcomed the news, but also mentions the issue of how to make green steel competitive on the market. “We especially need to address the question of how to create a viable business model, in view of the much higher production costs,” it says.

Christian Koehl Germany