Under the programme, which is part of H2Global, each government will contribute up to €200m ($230m) to cover the cost gap between the price of green hydrogen production and what buyers in Germany are currently willing to pay.
The hydrogen must be certified as a renewable fuel of non-biological origin (RFNBO) under EU rules — a mandatory requirement to qualify for public support through H2Global.
While the H2Global Foundation will administer the mechanism, its bespoke bilateral structure means the auction is restricted to Canadian producers and German buyers, and, unlike earlier tenders, Canada will co-fund the scheme, rather than Germany acting alone.
Furthermore, both the hydrogen purchase agreements (HPAs) and hydrogen sales agreements (HSAs) will have durations of up to 10 years, longer than previous H2Global resale contracts.
H2Global’s operational arm, Hint.Co will not act as an intermediary buyer-reseller. Instead, it will coordinate simultaneous producer and buyer-side auctions, then assign contracts directly between Canadian producers and German buyers, while covering the price differential via subsidy payments to producers.
“[This] means that offtakers will be determined long before the first delivery of RFNBOs and that Hint.Co will not have a direct contractual relationship with the offtaker after the matching of producers and offtakers,” the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) explained.
“Rather, producers and off-takers will have a direct contractual relationship with one another.”
HPAs and HSAs may also be aligned with Canadian hydrogen project start dates. Producers will be allowed to bid using green hydrogen or its derivatives, such as ammonia or methanol, provided they meet the technical and sustainability criteria.
H2 View understands that awards will be based primarily on the energy content offered and price competitiveness.
The BMWE highlighted that Safeguards are also proposed to avoid strategic bidding across overlapping tenders, such as the North America H2Global auction, by restricting bids based on the same physical assets.
The BMWE’s public consultation is scheduled to close September 10, 2025.
Despite setbacks in North America, Canada’s hydrogen momentum continues, and its clean hydrogen investment tax credit proposal of 15–40% was passed into law in June 2024, based on a carbon intensity tier system.
When the joint CAD $300m (€189m) pledge was announced last year, Karina Häuslmeier, Deputy Head of Mission at the German Embassy in Ottawa, said Germany needs “stable and reliable partners” like Canada.