The European Commission has approved a €780 million Dutch state aid scheme aimed at accelerating renewable hydrogen production, backing plans to build around 400 megawatts of new electrolysis capacity.

 

The scheme, approved under the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF), is designed to boost the production of renewable hydrogen while cutting industrial carbon emissions.

 

Aid will be awarded through a competitive bidding process expected to conclude by the first quarter of 2027. Successful projects will receive direct grants combining an upfront investment grant covering up to 80% of eligible investment costs with a variable premium paid over five to 10 years.

 

Projects will have to meet EU requirements for renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs), including the bloc’s criteria for renewable hydrogen production.

 

The Dutch government estimates the scheme could support production of up to 40 kilotonnes of renewable hydrogen a year, avoiding around 324 kilotonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

 

The programme builds on two earlier Dutch schemes approved by the Commission in July 2023 and July 2024, which were aimed at expanding electrolysis capacity in the Netherlands.

 

The Commission assessed the scheme under Article 107(3)(c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework. It concluded that the support was necessary and appropriate to accelerate renewable hydrogen production and would have only a limited impact on competition and trade within the EU.

 

The Commission also found that the scheme would create an incentive effect and that its expected benefits — particularly its contribution to the Clean Industrial Deal — would outweigh potential distortions to competition.

 

The Commission also approved three transactions under the EU Merger Regulation.

 

It cleared the acquisition of joint control of MAK Mecsek Autópálya Koncessziós Zártkörűen Működő Részvénytársaság, which operates a section of two Hungarian motorways, by UK-based abrdn Investments Limited and Austria’s Strabag AG.

 

Brussels said the deal raised no competition concerns because the companies are not active in the same or vertically related markets. The transaction was reviewed under the simplified merger procedure.

 

The Commission also approved the acquisition of Electrolux de Mexico and the creation of three joint ventures in Mexico and the United States by China’s Midea and Sweden’s Electrolux.

 

The deal covers the manufacture and supply of refrigeration and laundry appliances in North America. The Commission said the transaction would have a limited impact on the European Economic Area and would not raise competition concerns.

 

A third deal involving Türkiye’s İGA Holding and Unifree Duty Free İşletmeciliği was also approved. The transaction will create a joint venture focused primarily on operating travel retail stores outside the European Economic Area.

 

The Commission again found no competition concerns, citing the transaction’s limited impact on the EEA.