EU-Commission approves German measure to support BASF in the production of renewable hydrogen

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €134 million German measure to support BASF SE (‘BASF') in the production of renewable hydrogen, with the aims of decarbonizing its chemical production processes and of promoting hydrogen use in the transport sector.

The German measure will support BASF's production of renewable hydrogen mainly to replace fossil-based hydrogen in BASF's chemical production processes. Additional renewable hydrogen produced will be delivered for emerging hydrogen mobility applications (e.g. hydrogen-powered trucks or buses).

The aid, which will take the form of a direct grant, will support the construction and installation of a large-scale electrolyser at BASF's Ludwigshafen site, which will have an annual production capacity of 54 MW and produce approximately 5,000 tons of renewable hydrogen and 40,000 tons of oxygen per year. The electrolyser is envisaged to start operating in 2025.

More to be found in the press release of the EU Commission from 3 October 2022.