EIB and Hydrogen Council Sign Agreement to Finance Hydrogen Projects

EIB and Hydrogen Council to collaborate on the development of innovative schemes to finance hydrogen projects to address climate change.

The Hydrogen Council, a global initiative of CEOs representing energy, transport, and industry organisations advocating for the accelerated deployment of hydrogen solutions, and the European Investment Bank (EIB), one of the world’s largest providers of climate finance, have signed a landmark agreement to collaborate on the development of innovative schemes to finance hydrogen projects to address climate change.

Under this partnership delivered through the InnovFin Advisory program, EIB will provide strategic financial advice and support to companies preparing to deploy large-scale hydrogen projects, making such solutions more readily available to consumers around the world.

“Hydrogen technologies are poised to play a major role in accelerating the energy transition but need to be scaled up. This collaboration is a step toward this objective. As such, the Hydrogen Council is engaging the global investment community, with the understanding that transitioning towards a low-carbon economy will require significant financial commitments. The hydrogen economy will require annual investments of USD 20-25 billion until 2030,” the joint statement stated.

Though a significant investment, the amount is a fraction of what the world invests in oil and gas and renewable electricity per year. The cooperation will help to accelerate and facilitate access to funding for a number of hydrogen projects which will benefit from the EIB’s InnovFin Advisory support. The agreement will also contribute to identify and source hydrogen investment projects which could be financed by the EIB, and in so doing address energy transition and carbon reduction challenges.

EIB vice president Ambrose Fayolle said “We share common goals with the Hydrogen Council. The European Investment Bank is the European Union’s Climate Bank and financing new technologies and innovative projects that help to fight climate change is at the very heart of what we do. This is why I am particularly delighted that through our InnovFin Advisory partnership with the European Commission, we are supporting the development of the hydrogen market in Europe, which will have a positive impact globally.”

In a recent report, The Future of Hydrogen, the International Energy Agency (IEA) made clear that hydrogen is experiencing unprecedented momentum around the world due to its potential to tackle various critical energy challenges. Similarly, the Hydrogen Council has found that hydrogen can address 18 percent of global energy demand and abate one-fifth of emissions.