The second round of H2Global auctions kicked off on Wednesday, with a total of €2.5 billion ($2.6 billion) allocated for both regional and global lots.

The budget could be increased to €3 billion, “pending final budget approvals,” says Hintco, the implementing entity of the H2Global Foundation.

Last month, Hintco said the second auction would take a dual approach, conducting separate auctions on different continents. As such, the tenders will be organised into five lots – four regional and one global.

The regional auctions, focusing on green hydrogen produced in Asia, Africa, North America, South America and Oceania, will have a minimum budget of €484 million each. The German government will fund these for delivery into Germany. These lots will be “product-open,” meaning bidders can supply hydrogen, ammonia or methanol as final products, Kallanish notes.

The global lot, meanwhile, will offer a minimum of €567m, funded by both Germany and the Netherlands, for delivery into either of those two nations. These auctions are classified as “vector-open lot,” targeting exclusively hydrogen as the final product. Projects located in any country – other than the Netherlands, Germany or a sanctioned country – will be eligible to apply.

“Hintco is once again setting new milestones by pooling funds from different governments into a single auction, targeting both global and – for the first time – European renewable hydrogen production,” comments Timo Bollerhey, ceo of Hintco. “In doing so, Hintco is accelerating the creation of a renewable hydrogen market and de-risking the nascent hydrogen value chain.”

Set up by the German government, the H2Global initiative uses a double-auction model. The first part facilitates the purchase of hydrogen and its derivatives from the lowest bidders outside the EU. In the second, Hintco will sell the fuel to the highest bidders in Europe.

Source: Hintco