Set to be awarded through the Auction-as-a-Service (AaaS) mechanism, the funds will be directed to green hydrogen production and use projects. €278.6m ($325m) will be directed towards production for any sector, while €136.4m ($159m) will be aimed at projects supplying maritime and aviation.

Like the EU’s bloc-wide European Hydrogen Bank auctions, the AaaS scheme will provide a fixed premium per kilogramme of RFNBO green hydrogen for up to 10 years, once projects enter operations.

It adds to the original pot of €400m ($466m) approved by the European Commission earlier this year, which in November issued its first €126m ($147m) to two projects totalling 160MW of capacity that missed out on the EU-wide auctions.

Sara Aagesen Muñoz, Spain’s Vice President and Minister for the Ecological Transition, said the country is beginning to see “real projects” contributing to its decarbonisation goals.

Final awards under the scheme are expected before September 2026.

The auctions are part of Spain’s broader ambition to position itself as a European hydrogen hub, leveraging strong renewable resources, port infrastructure, and rising domestic demand.

In 2024, the government unveiled plans to see green hydrogen meet 74% of its industrial hydrogen demand by 2030 and treble its installed electrolyser capacity target to 12GW.

Major companies, including Repsol and Moeve, have since reached final investment decisions on large-scale hydrogen projects.