The European Commission said it has closed the first round of its Hydrogen Mechanism, a scheme designed to connect companies planning hydrogen projects with potential buyers through the EU Energy and Raw Materials Platform.
The mechanism allowed future hydrogen producers to gauge demand for specific projects and identify potential offtakers without running separate procurement processes, the Commission said in a release on Wednesday.
A total of 265 supply opportunities from different hydrogen projects were registered, covering renewable and low-carbon hydrogen and hydrogen-based products.
On the buyer side, 45 offtake projects were registered and expressions of interest were submitted for 87% of the supply opportunities.
The Commission said the matching phase has now finished and it is up to participating companies to contact each other directly outside the mechanism to discuss potential deals.
What was offered and where
Hydrogen-related supply opportunities included projects linked to renewable or low-carbon ammonia (47 projects), methanol (37), e-SAF (14) and e-methane (18), the Commission said. (e-SAF refers to synthetic aviation fuel produced using low-carbon energy.)
More than half of the opportunities — 54% — included a price indication.
Suppliers took part from 33 countries, including 16 EU member states, and said they could deliver supplies to 20 EU countries.
Offtakers requested deliveries in 10 EU countries: Belgium, Czechia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain.
The Commission said it is now considering next steps for the Hydrogen Mechanism, including how to support infrastructure development.
