Subsidies for green hydrogen production start - GREENGAS programme accepts applications until the end of June

The subsidy call, launched by the State Environmental Fund just before the end of last year, focuses exclusively on the production of green hydrogen from renewable sources and is primarily intended to support economically weaker regions such as the Karlovy Vary, Ústí nad Labem and Moravian-Silesian regions. GREENGAS will preferentially allocate one billion of the three billion for them.

How much support is there for one project?

The maximum amount of aid per project is 45 % of eligible expenditure. One applicant may receive a maximum of EUR 30 million. Once the award decision has been written off, there is a time limit of 5 years for the implementation of the entire project.

What costs are covered by GREENGAS?

Indeed, the programme focuses only on technical equipment that enables the production of green hydrogen from renewable energy sources. In contrast, the other part of the so-called hydrogen economy, i.e. the reverse generation of electricity and heat from hydrogen using a fuel cell, is not covered by GREENGAS. The costs of the electrolysers and their accessories (water treatment, control electronics) and the costs of the green hydrogen storage will be eligible. GREENGAS also sets the minimum hourly production of the electrolyser at 5 Nm³/h. In practice, this will mainly involve electrolyzers with an output of more than 25 kW.

When is it worth considering green hydrogen production?

There are basically 2 scenarios. The first is a situation where surplus energy flows into hydrogen production, most often from photovoltaic plants, and green hydrogen acts as a "battery" for long-term energy storage. The whole system includes a conventional battery, whereby the electrolyser produces hydrogen only from the part of the energy that the battery cannot absorb.Such an installation is usually worthwhile for larger energy surpluses - in our experience from 4 MWh onwards.

The second scenario is a situation where the production of green hydrogen is part of a larger project for the operation of hydrogen vehicles. This is most often the case for transport companies planning to operate hydrogen buses.

In order to receive support, it is important that the electrolyser actually produces hydrogen only from renewable energy. It will not yet be possible to obtain support for an electrolyser used as a 'load' for grid balancing (SVRs).

How to choose the power of the electrolyzer and how much hydrogen it will produce?

Unfortunately, there is no universal rule. Especially in the case where hydrogen production is to ensure the energy independence of a building, it is necessary to know more parameters. The most important is the comparison of the energy surplus with the energy consumption of the building. We therefore prepare an individual feasibility study for each specific case.

If green hydrogen is to be used to power vehicles, we need to take into account their annual mileage in a similar study, as well as whether some kind of stationary or mobile filling station is to be part of the overall project.

In general, to produce 1 kg of hydrogen, an electrolyser needs about 55 kWh of electricity.