Norwegian company with winning bid in first EU renewable hydrogen auction

The company is granted financial support to produce renewable hydrogen. The support will be paid out based on the verified amounts of production. 

Skiga AS is located in Skipavika in Gulen municipality on the West Coast of Norway. 

– I want to congratulate Skiga on being selected in the first auction round for the EU’s Hydrogen bank, says Minister for Climate and Environment Andreas Bjelland Eriksen. 

– I am pleased to see that a Norwegian company asserts itself internationally. Together with Enova’s own efforts on hydrogen, this lays a solid foundation for restructuring and emissions reduction both in shipping and in the industry, he says. 

– This is fantastic news for the hydrogen initiative in Norway. Congratulations to Skiga, says the Minister of Energy, Terje Aasland. 

– I look forward to following the project going forward, he says.  

The hydrogen auction is the first in the EU Hydrogen bank and is carried out as part of the EU Innovation Fund. The Innovation Fund is financed by the EU Emission Trading system (ETS), which Norway is a part of. 

Enova is the National Contact Point for the Innovation Fund in Norway and assists Norwegian companies in the application work. 

– This is a big day for Norwegian industry. We are happy that Norwegian companies aim for European support schemes and are securing important and necessary resources for the climate and energy transition in Norway, says Astrid Lilliestråle, director of technology and market development at Enova. 

Enova assisted 14 Norwegian bidders in preparing a bid for the hydrogen auction. In addition to receiving technical support, bidders were granted up to NOK 500,000 in financial support to cover expenses associated with preparing a bid. 

– Enova offers a wide range of services to Norwegian applicants and has worked closely with the companies through our EU Innovation Fund project establishment support scheme. In other words, we know that there is extensive and excellent work behind today’s grant, says Lilliestråle. 

And adds: 

– Together with Enova’s launch on Monday of a new hydrogen support scheme, including a twofold increase of  of  the maximum financial support to produce hydrogen for the maritime sector, this means that we are a big step closer to realizing the first functioning value chain for hydrogen in Norway. 

The total budget for the first round of hydrogen auction was up to 800 million euros. The EU Commission received 132 bids from 17 different countries, and a total of 719 million euros were distributed to seven different projects. 

The remaining winning bids come from Finnish, Spanish and Portuguese actors. 

A second round of the hydrogen auction is expected to open in the fall with a bid deadline during the winter of 2025. It is expected to be conducted according to the same model as the first round with minor adjustments.  

– Enova looks forward to assisting Norwegian bidders further. We will use our experience from the first round into the next auction, which the EU signals will have a significantly larger budget, says Ingunn Syrstad Bøgeberg, National Contact Point for the EU Innovation Fund in Norway and senior advisor at Enova. 

– Combined with Enova’s own support programs the EU hydrogen auction creates a power package for the development of the hydrogen value chain, she says. 

Read more about the support Enova offers Norwegian applicants to the EU’s innovation fund. 

Questions about the award can be directed to contact person Ingunn Syrstad Bøgeberg.