Two calls for projects to support federal hydrogen strategy launched

On 20 November 2023, the Belgian federal government published two calls for projects to support the rollout of the federal hydrogen strategy, which aims to prepare Belgium for climate challenges, as well as the technological, political, and economic challenges of the coming decades. This strategy is based on four pillars:

• Positioning Belgium as a hub for the import and transit of renewable molecules in Europe;
• Reinforcing Belgium’s leadership in hydrogen technologies;
• Building a robust hydrogen market; and
• Investing in cooperation.
  

First call: Clean Hydrogen for Clean Industry

The first call for projects, Clean Hydrogen for Clean Industry, is intended to support innovative research and development projects related to the development and/or demonstration of technologies and infrastructure for the production and use of hydrogen and its derivatives. 

Criteria

• The extent to which the project contributes to the achievement of one or more of the pillars of the federal hydrogen strategy (this benchmark is crucial yet sensitive, given the differences within federal and regional levels of government with respect to hydrogen plans); and
• The quality of the planning (i.e., quality of organisation, processes, project execution plan, etc.). 

Budget

A total budget of EUR 19 million is available for the first call. A subsidy will be awarded provided that:

• The grant requested does not exceed 70% of the total project budget (maximum EUR 15 million per project);
• The project is not yet under construction at the date of the submission;
• The project must be completed by 20 December 2025; and
• The project does not cause significant harm to the environment. 

Second call: Clean Hydrogen to Belgium

The federal government also wants to reinforce Belgium's role as a hub for the import and transit of renewables molecules. To this end, the second call, Clean Hydrogen to Belgium, aims to encourage innovative research and development projects targeting the development and/or demonstration of hydrogen import technologies and infrastructure.

Criteria

The project will be evaluated using four criteria. Grants will be awarded based on a ranking system under which projects must achieve an overall score of at least 60% in order to be included. The most important criteria are:

• The extent to which the project contributes to positioning Belgium as a hub for the import and transit of renewable molecules in Europe (this benchmark is crucial yet sensitive, given the differences within federal and regional levels of government with respect to hydrogen plans);
• The technological readiness of the proposed project; and
• The quality of the planning (i.e., quality of the organisation, processes, project execution plan, etc.). 

Budget

A total budget of EUR 10 million is available for this second call. A subsidy is awarded provided that:

• The grant requested does not exceed 70% of the total project budget (maximum EUR 8 million per project);
• The project is not yet under construction at the date of the submission;
• The project must be completed by 31 July 2026; and
• The project does not cause significant harm to the environment.

Submission

Both calls are open to all legal entities from any EU member state.

The deadline for the submission of both calls for projects is 31 January 2024.

How can we assist?

Deloitte Belgium’s experienced Gi3 team can provide tailored and expert advice on how to develop and obtain funding for projects in line with the scope of the two Belgian federal hydrogen calls. We can provide complete assistance from project evaluation and feasibility analysis to full support for proposal preparation and submission.