The three major withdrawals included Deutsche ReGas’ 210MW H2-Hub in Lubmin, Germany; Vattenfall and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners’ (CIP) 560MW Zeevonk electrolyser plant in the Netherlands, which was delayed earlier this week; and CIP and Enagás Renovable’s 500MW Catalina electrolyser in Spain.

H2 View understands that projects withdrew due to regulatory uncertainty, tight EU deadlines, unfinished hydrogen infrastructure, and, in Catalina’s case, conflicting national funding.

Together, the withdrawals represent around 1.3GW of electrolysis capacity, around a third of all capacity awarded across the two auctions.

Withdrawn funds from the second auction, which was oversubscribed fourfold with 6.3GW of bids for a €1.2bn ($1.4bn) budget, will go to reserve projects that missed out due to the funding cap.

While the Commission hasn’t named the awardees, the freed-up funds will allow selected projects to proceed.

For the first auction, the leftover money will instead be sent back to the Innovation Fund to be offered in future funding rounds for future calls.

The withdrawals raise questions over the EHB’s first two auction rounds. While the scheme is designed to bridge the cost gap between renewable and conventional hydrogen production, auction clearing prices, sometimes as low as €0.20/kg in some categories, cover a fraction of the actual cost of production, which can exceed €8/kg in certain markets.

Combined with the slow national rollout of RED III rules, complex permitting requirements, and tight delivery timelines, the conditions could create a high-risk environment for developers.

Matthew Hodgkinson, Senior Hydrogen Analyst at S&P Global Commodity Insights, noted that low subsidies in both EHB rounds only partially bridge the cost gap between conventional and EU RED-compliant hydrogen production.