<article><p class="lead">France will build 6.5GW of electrolysis capacity by 2030 as part of a €7bn ($8.3bn) hydrogen production support scheme, finance minister Bruno Le Maire and ecology minister Barbara Pompili have said. </p><p>France will launch a call for proposals later this year to support projects promoting the production and transport of hydrogen, both ministers said. The scheme will allocate €350mn by 2023. </p><p>The call for proposals will be followed by an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) next year that will receive €1.5bn in public financing. The IPCEI could support the large-scale industrial use of hydrogen, the construction of electrolyser manufacturing factories or industrialisation of other hydrogen-related technologies, according to the ecology ministry. </p><p>And the French government will hold a tender in 2022 to introduce a subsidy mechanism for hydrogen production. </p><p>The hydrogen scheme is expected to help reduce French greenhouse gas emissions by 6mn t of CO2 equivalent (CO2e)/yr as of 2030.</p><p>The government last week <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2138657">unveiled</a> a €100bn economic stimulus package, nearly a third of which is allocated to energy and ecology projects, with hydrogen receiving the largest support. It will grant €470mn to nuclear power with a focus on developing small and medium reactor (SMR) capacity.</p><p>A number of European countries have set hydrogen production targets this year. Germany <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2111543">is aiming for</a> 10GW of hydrogen production by 2040, while Spain plans to install 4GW of electrolysis capacity by 2030. Portugal <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2108565">plans</a> to add 15GW of renewables generation capacity, up to 2GW of which is expected to be used for hydrogen electrolysis. </p><p class="bylines"><i>By Bilal Muftuoglu</i></p></article>
