The European Commission launched in 2018 the Strategic Forum for important projects of common European interest with the aim of establishing a methodology that would allow the identification of strategic industrial value chains for the EU . The Forum, made up of associations, interest groups and Member States, and chaired by the European Commission, decided that green hydrogen should be considered a strategic industrial value chain for Europe. Green hydrogen is considered to be all that comes from renewable energy sources.

With the aim of supporting this industrial value chain, the European Commission is currently promoting an initiative IPCEI . Projects IPCEI are subject to compliance with the terms of the Communication from the European Commission (2014 / C 188/02), published in the DOUE of June 20, 2014.

This Communication explains the requirements for a project to be eligible as IPCEI , and for this it requires, among others, that the project:

1. Contribute in a concrete, clear and identifiable way to one or more objectives of the EU , have a significant impact on competitiveness, sustainable growth and the creation of value across the Union.
2. Involve several Member States working together to design a large integrated project.
3. There is co-financing by the beneficiaries.
4. The benefits are not limited to the companies or sectors in question, but to the entire European economy or society through positive indirect effects.

Notice of expressions of interest

The objective of this expression of interest notice is to identify projects associated with the manufacturing industry that may participate in an IPCEI green hydrogen initiative.

The IPCEI can represent an important contribution to economic growth, job creation and the competitiveness of the industry and economy of the European Union, taking into account the positive carryover effects on the internal market and society.

The expression of interest will enable entities in Spain to develop industrial manufacturing projects in the green hydrogen value chain and who could participate in an important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) aimed at accelerating the development of the Hydrogen industrial sector throughout the value chain.

Projects are considered to have to cover some industrial aspect of the hydrogen value chain: hydrogen production, storage, transport and distribution, industrial uses of hydrogen, uses of hydrogen for mobility or uses of renewable hydrogen for networks , among others.

The objective is to identify R & D + i projects of companies in the manufacturing industry, both in process and in products that allow combining the development of a competitive industrial offer with the deployment of the uses of hydrogen and / or the associated infrastructure. The projects must cover some of the phases of the R + D + i and / or the first industrial deployment (FID: First Industrial Deployment ) whenever this is derived from an R&D activity.

The first industrial deployment is understood as those investments that involve the transition of pilot facilities to a larger scale or the first equipment and facilities of their type that cover the stages subsequent to the pilot line, including the experimental or test stage, but not mass production.

There is currently no specific funding program for these projects in support of their participation in a possible European IPCEI . In any case, companies will have at their disposal the calls of any of the horizontal lines of aid or financing existing at any time by any administration for projects of R + D + i < / abbr>, and for which they must follow the due and required processing in their respective calls and comply with their conditions and requirements. Participation in this expression of interest notice does not imply access to financing and companies, where appropriate, may follow the established procedures of each line of aid to which they may choose.

Requirements to be met by projects submitted to this expression of interest

• The project must have an important innovative character or provide significant added value in terms of R + D + i . The level of the value chain in which the project is developed must be identified.
• Projects that include a first industrial deployment must allow the development of new products or services with a high research content or the development of a fundamentally innovative production process. Regular updates without an innovative dimension to existing installations and the development of new versions of existing products are not considered IPCEI .
• The benefits of the project should not be limited to the companies or sector directly interested, but should be of greater relevance and application in the European economy or society through clearly defined positive effects, in a concrete and identifiable way, on other levels of the green hydrogen industrial value chain, on the market or on its use by other sectors.
• The beneficiary must participate in the co-financing of the project.
• The company must commit to disseminating the new knowledge acquired in the context of the work financed beyond its only clients and suppliers. The project must allow the wide dissemination of the acquired knowledge, whether or not they are protected by a title or an intellectual property right. The dissemination will take place beyond the project partners throughout the European Union. The mechanisms for disseminating the knowledge acquired must be explained and detailed.
• The project must be able to be developed in collaboration with other companies and it will be necessary to attend the coordination meetings of the possible IPCEI in Brussels or in those cities that are determine. It must be shown that the project can be integrated and complemented with other projects at other levels of the value chain.
• The company must be validly constituted, not subject to a court order to recover aid that has been considered illegal and incompatible in the context of a decision of the European Commission. The company should have no difficulties within the meaning of the European Commission guidelines on aid for the rescue and restructuring of companies in difficulty
• Explain why the project is important to the development objectives of the green hydrogen industrial value chain in the EU and its contribution to the EU and its economy.
• You must have a very high technological or financial risk that must be detailed and explained.
• The project must have an incentive effect, that is, cause a change in the behavior of the beneficiary so that it increases its degree of R & D + i . The aid is not considered to offer incentives to the beneficiary in all those cases in which the R & D & i activity has already started before the presentation of the aid application.
• The minimum project budget must be € 100,000

The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism may nominate, from the resulting list of interested companies and entities, those eligible companies that have met all the conditions set out above, with the aim of their possible integration into the working groups. and meetings between European entities for the constitution of an IPCEI .

During the formation process of the IPCEI , the selected Spanish companies and the rest of European companies must, where appropriate, prepare a joint document that justifies the need for a IPCEI for hydrogen. This document must be reviewed and, where appropriate, approved by the European Commission as a condition precedent to the launch of the IPCEI .

Additionally, the projects presented must follow a notification process before the European Commission coordinated among all the Member States. The Commission will assess the suitability of each of the projects to participate in the IPCEI . In other words, the participation of the selected projects in the European IPCEI will be subject to the final decision of the Commission. Final participation in the IPCEI does not necessarily imply obtaining financial aid.

They must submit their project proposals for R & D + i to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism specifying:

• Data : Company, company name, representative and contact information.
• Attaching to the mail the Project Proposal , according to a pre-established format.

The absence of any information required in the project proposal document or the non-compliance with the above requirements will discard it.

Interested companies must submit their project proposals to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism until June 15 (10:00 am)

Comunicación IPCEI - Comisión Europea [PDF] [431.14 KB]

Presentación IPCEI - Comisión Europea [PDF] [150.07 KB]

Propuesta del Proyecto [DOCX] [32.25 KB]