The Ministry for Environment, Climate and Energy in Baden-Württemberg supports the local production of renewable hydrogen through water electrolysis with the new funding program "Ely." The goal is to achieve a sufficiently comprehensive supply of hydrogen in the medium term and to ensure the competitiveness of Baden-Württemberg companies.
"The statewide survey we conducted showed that the demand for renewable hydrogen is increasing 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 do not only rely on the planned large hydrogen networks, but also timely build local infrastructures. Therefore, I advocated during budget negotiations that we can continue to support the regional hydrogen ramp-up with more than 100 million euros."
Building local hydrogen hubs
On October 22, 2024, the Federal Network Agency approved the application of the transmission network operators for the nationwide hydrogen core network. 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 take time to implement.
"To meet necessary and time-critical hydrogen needs as much as possible, it is required to already invest in on-site production capacities and thereby build the value chains in a timely manner," said the Minister.
Therefore, the Ministry of Energy will in future promote the establishment of local electrolyzers with integrated concepts for producing renewable hydrogen for regional supply. The focus is on building hydrogen hubs in Baden-Württemberg. The electrolyzers and hydrogen hubs should be established or expanded as much as possible in line 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
- On March 21, 2025, an online consultation will be held by the Karlsruhe Project Sponsor (PTKA)
- The funding amount is a maximum of 10 million euros per project, for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) a maximum of 8.25 million euros per project
- The funding rate is up to 45% of the eligible investment costs; for small companies, the rate can be increased by an additional 20%, for medium-sized companies by an additional 10%
- Hydrogen hubs can create local or regional hydrogen economies. They cover the entire value chain from production, storage, and distribution to the energetic and/or material use of hydrogen
Further Information
Further information on the funding program can be found here.
The documents for application as well as access to the electronic application system "pt-outline" can be found here.
