The German government has launched its largest auction of green hydrogen imports to date, worth up to €2.5 billion. The auction is being run by Hintco, a subsidiary of the business-led H2Global Foundation, which specializes in managing contracts for the government. It is worth noting that the auction will be partly funded by the German and Dutch governments, and the total auction is expected to increase to 3 billion euros before the final budget approval.

The H2Global Foundation's main role is to secure long-term procurement agreements for green hydrogen and its derivatives, such as ammonia and methanol, to provide hydrogen producers with planning and investment guarantees. At the same time, the foundation also enters into sales contracts in Europe to buy products at the lowest possible price and sell them to the highest bidder. Since the process is expected to result in a loss of funds, the government will make up the difference through subsidies.

The auction is open to producers from Africa, Asia, North America, South America and Oceania to apply for funding to supply hydrogen and its derivatives to Germany. "The latest H2Global auction, which for the first time received financial support from both governments, proves that global cooperation in clean energy is not only possible, but essential," said Marcus Exxonberg, co-founder of H2Global.

Back in 2022, Hintco launched its first €900 million tender, from which producers could apply to supply ammonia, methanol or synthetic sustainable aviation fuel (e-SAF). However, due to the lack of bids from e-SAF, these products were not included in the second tender. In the first auction, a project in Egypt managed to secure a contract for at least 259,000 tonnes of green ammonia.

Green hydrogen will play a key role in the decarbonization of industries that are difficult to reduce emissions, such as steelmaking and chemicals. Therefore, importing green hydrogen from regions with high renewable power generation potential, such as Africa, will be key to ensuring a reliable supply. The auction not only highlights Germany's determination to promote global clean energy cooperation, but also injects new impetus into the development of the global green hydrogen industry. Editor/Xu Shengpeng