• The European Commission has given a positive preliminary assessment to the Netherlands’ fourth €661 million [$769.3 million] recovery-fund payment request, which includes green-hydrogen research and demonstration projects alongside offshore wind and home energy-efficiency measures.
• The Commission has not disclosed how much of the payment is specifically linked to hydrogen, and the money has not yet been disbursed.

 

Green-hydrogen research and demonstration projects in the Netherlands are among the measures covered by a €661 million [$769.3 million] EU recovery-fund payment request that has received a positive preliminary assessment from the European Commission.

 

The Commission said on September 7 that the Netherlands had satisfactorily completed all nine milestones and 15 targets linked to its fourth payment request under the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

 

The measures include investments enabling offshore wind generation, more than 820,000 energy-saving improvements to homes and projects aimed at increasing the use of green hydrogen through research and demonstration.

 

The Commission did not provide a separate funding figure for hydrogen, meaning the €661 million should not be described as a hydrogen-specific support package.

 

Other measures covered by the request include digital education, training for unemployed people, tax reforms and work on the Netherlands’ pension-system transition.

 

The Netherlands submitted the fourth payment request on July 2.

 

Its Recovery and Resilience Plan is financed by €5.44 billion [$6.33 billion] in EU grants.

 

If the fourth payment is approved and disbursed, total RRF payments to the Netherlands will reach €3.73 billion [$4.34 billion], equal to 68.6% of the country’s allocation. The Commission says 81.1% of the plan’s milestones and targets will then have been fulfilled.

 

The €661 million has not yet been paid.

 

The Commission has sent its preliminary assessment to the Economic and Financial Committee, which has four weeks to issue an opinion. The Commission can then adopt the formal payment decision.

 

Member states had to complete their agreed RRF milestones and targets by August 31, 2026 and must submit final payment requests by September 30. The Commission must complete final payments by December 31, 2026.

 

In March, Shell’s 200MW Holland Hydrogen 1 project became the first green hydrogen production facility connected directly to the Dutch national hydrogen network, although the plant itself is still under construction.

 

Commissioning is expected later in 2026, with hydrogen production scheduled to ramp up in 2027.

 

Source:  FCW Team