The Ministry of Environment, Climate and Energy Economy in Baden-Württemberg is supporting the local production of renewable hydrogen through water electrolysis with the new funding program "Ely". The aim is to achieve a sufficiently comprehensive supply of hydrogen in the medium term and to secure the competitiveness of Baden-Württemberg companies.
"The statewide survey we conducted has shown that the demand for renewable hydrogen is rising faster and is significantly higher than previously assumed," reports Energy Minister Thekla Walker at the start of the funding program. "It is important that we not only rely on the planned large hydrogen networks, but also build local infrastructures in a timely manner. Therefore, I advocated in the budget negotiations that we can continue to support the regional hydrogen ramp-up with more than 100 million euros."
Development of local hydrogen hubs
The Federal Network Agency approved the application from the transmission network operators for the nationwide hydrogen core network on October 22, 2024. This could be an important signal for the hydrogen ramp-up. However, the core network does not cover all regions in Baden-Württemberg and will still take time to implement.
"To meet necessary and time-critical hydrogen demands as much as possible, it is necessary to invest in on-site production capacities now and thereby timely build the value chains," says the minister.
Therefore, the Ministry of Energy will in the future promote the construction of local electrolyzers with integrated concepts for the production of renewable hydrogen for regional supply. The focus is on the development of hydrogen hubs in Baden-Württemberg. The electrolyzers and hydrogen hubs should be built or expanded as much as possible in accordance with the regional expansion of the power grid and the regional expansion of renewable energy plants (RE plants).
Figures, Data, Facts
- Applications can be submitted electronically until May 15, 2025
- An online consultation by the Project Management Agency Karlsruhe (PTKA) will take place on March 21, 2025
- The funding amount for each project is a maximum of 10 million euros, while for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) it is a maximum of 8.25 million euros per project
- The funding rate is up to 45% of eligible investment costs; for small companies, the rate can be increased by an additional 20%, and for medium-sized companies by an additional 10%
- Through hydrogen hubs, local or regional hydrogen economies can emerge. They encompass the entire value chain from production, storage, and distribution to the energetic and/or material use of hydrogen
Further Information
Further information about the funding program can be found here.
The application documents and access to the electronic application system "pt-outline" can be found here.
