The projects will be managed by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA).

The call covers the following topics:

• INNOVFUND-2024-AUC-RFNBOH2-GENERAL – Fixed Premium

Auction for RFNBO hydrogen production

• INNOVFUND-2024-AUC-RFNBOH2-MARITIME – Fixed Premium

Auction for RFNBO hydrogen production for the maritime sector

The Innovation Fund provides grants for projects aiming at commercial deployment of innovative low-carbon technologies, with the objective of bringing to market industrial solutions to decarbonise Europe and supporting its transition to climate neutrality.

The key advantages of using auctions for technologies that are moving towards scale up and market roll-out are:

1. cost-efficient support through using a market-based instrument (auctions)
2. technology and project development risks are tackled by the project promoter, who is in best place to address them, through payments based only on delivered volumes of the supported good, i.e. no payments before entry into operation
3. price discovery and market formation
4. reduced administrative burden.

The present call is an auction call for renewable fuel of non-biological origin (RFNBO) hydrogen as defined in the Renewable Energy Directive 2023/24137 and its Delegated Acts. The bid price is the requested unit contribution (fixed premium) per kg of RFNBO hydrogen production which will be paid for a maximum period of up to 10 years. Projects to be funded by this Innovation Fund call are expected to contribute to the transition to a climate-neutral economy by 2050 and to the target to reduce emissions by at least 55% by 2030 as defined in the European Climate Law Regulation and the European Green Deal9 and to targets set out in the REPowerEU Plan.