Portugal reveals first details of upcoming green hydrogen tender

From pv magazine Spain

The Portuguese government has unveiled a set of measures (Ley de las Grandes Opciones) to launch new auction schemes for offshore wind and renewable gas, with a particular focus on hydrogen and its derivatives, including ammonia, green methanol, and synthetic fuels. The first green hydrogen tender will be launched this year, according to the document.

The authorities said they want to award 10-year contracts for 3,000 tons of green hydrogen and 10,000 tons of renewable methane.

The reference price for green hydrogen will be €127 ($134.7)/MWh and that for renewable methane will be €62/MWh.

“The bases of the first tender in Portugal for the centralized purchase of biomethane, synthetic methane and green hydrogen have been defined, which will help to start decarbonizing gas consumption in the country,” said Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, the CEO of Hydrogen Europe.

“Congratulations to Joao Galamba, vice minister and secretary of state for energy. He is, without a doubt, the leader of the EU,” Chatzimarkakis said. “This is an important pilot project for the adoption of domestic H2 production in Europe.”

In mid-December, Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa launched the Simplex Ambientales program, which is a package of measures to change the environmental rules for the development of hydrogen and renewable energy projects.

In 2021, the Portuguese government launched a call for hydrogen projects, and it attracted €16 billion ($16.9 billion) of proposed investments. The €40 million that Lisbon is providing to support this initiative is part of the national hydrogen strategy.

*The article was updated on Jan. 4 to add the reference prices for both green hydrogen and renewable methane. It was also amended to specify that the Portuguese government provided €40 million for the initiative and not €40 billion as previously reported.