en.Wedoany.com Reported - Spain's Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (Miteco) has approved €233.4 million in grants for three renewable hydrogen production projects in Castilla-La Mancha and Galicia through the "Auction-as-a-Service" (AaaS) mechanism, with a combined electrolysis capacity of 92.27 MW. The funded projects—Atlas, Quixotgen, and Puertollano Hydrogen Network (P-Hynet)—are located in A Coruña, Albacete, and Ciudad Real, respectively.

These three electrolysis units are designed to replace fossil fuels in industrial facilities with hydrogen produced from renewable electricity, reducing CO₂ emissions. The funding comes from the "NextGenerationEU" fund and falls under Spain's Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR). The three projects had previously been preselected by the European Commission in the third European Hydrogen Bank auction (Innovation Fund IF25 auction), but were placed on the reserve list after failing to secure European funding due to exhausted budget at the time. To facilitate project implementation, the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE), under Miteco, launched Spain's second AaaS call in May, with a maximum funding cap of €440.5 million.

Projects were selected based on the scoring order established by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). The Atlas project, promoted by Repsol Renewable and Circular Solutions, S.A., is located in Arteixo, A Coruña province, with an electrolysis capacity of 50 MW and a requested aid amount of €133,394,887.50. The Quixotgen project, promoted by Doña Urraca Energy in Villarrobledo, Albacete province, has an electrolysis capacity of 30 MW and a requested subsidy of €50,216,284. The P-Hynet project, also promoted by Repsol Renewable and Circular Solutions, is located in Puertollano, Ciudad Real province, with an electrolysis capacity of 12.27 MW and an aid amount of €49,791,750.

All three projects have received final award decisions from IDAE. The current call still has remaining budget, and other projects formally transferred from the European Hydrogen Bank to the AaaS mechanism may still be included, provided they are on the reserve list of the Innovation Fund IF25 auction. The incentives are granted as subsidies for projects that produce and certify hydrogen as 100% renewable—classified as renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO) under the Renewable Energy Directive. The subsidy coverage period extends up to 10 years after project commissioning, and each phase must comply with the "Do No Significant Harm" (DNSH) principle.

Spain's first AaaS auction already benefited three other projects transferred from the European Hydrogen Bank's general mechanism: the Orange-Bat project by SmartEnergy in Onda, Castellón province; the ELYSE NeM-Numancia project in Garray, Soria province; and the Acciona Plug Valle H2V Navarra project in Sangüesa, Navarra province, with total incentives of €220.02 million. These deployments represent one of the technological pathways for bringing renewable hydrogen into industry, heavy transport, and other sectors where decarbonization is more challenging, complementing the Strategic Project for the Recovery and Economic Transformation of Renewable Energy, Hydrogen and Storage (PERTE ERHA). To date, IDAE has allocated €2.814 billion to green hydrogen projects through dedicated programs such as H2 Pioneros, H2 Cadena de Valor, and H2 Valles, multiple European Commission IPCEI rounds, and the first AaaS; including dedicated green hydrogen funds under the PRTR and its annexes, total allocations approach €3 billion, aligned with the Renewable Hydrogen Roadmap and the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC).