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Bavaria wants to become the “number one hydrogen country”, but receives hardly any federal funding for this. But this is not due to an anti-Bavaria agenda of the Greens, as Markus Söder suggests.
Markus Söder believes Bavaria is being treated unfairly when it comes to hydrogen funding. “The traffic light coalition is once again putting Bavaria at a disadvantage,” wrote the Bavarian Prime Minister on social media this week. “This is unfair and a massive exclusion of Bavaria.” What happened? And is Söder’s criticism justified?
Habeck’s hydrogen promotion: negotiated by the Union
The CSU leader is essentially concerned with the funding for hydrogen projects that Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) recently presented. They are intended to help transform the German economy into a climate-neutral one. A total of 4.6 billion euros in funding is available. 70 percent of this is provided by the federal government, 30 percent by the states. The funding amount is distributed between 23 hydrogen infrastructure projectsof which only one is actually located in Bavaria: 72.5 million euros went to Erlangen.
Most of the projects receiving funding, eleven in particular, are in Lower Saxony. Söder is bothered by this. “The traffic light coalition and the Greens in particular are unfriendly to Bavaria and want to massively distribute wealth in Germany from south to north,” wrote the Prime Minister. “We will stop this from next year.” The fact that more funding is being provided elsewhere is less due to a supposed anti-Bavaria agenda in Berlin.
The Green-led Ministry of Economic Affairs is not responsible for the selection of projects, a spokesman explained when asked by IPPEN.MEDIAThese are projects “that applied in 2021 and were then selected by the previous government led by the Union.” At that time, the Ministry of Economic Affairs was in CDU hands.
Hydrogen promotion: “Clear location advantages” in Lower Saxony
Another reason for the funding is the location factor. The projects receiving funding are located in particular near large centers of industrial value creation for steel and chemicals, such as in Saarland or North Rhine-Westphalia. In addition, there are “clear location advantages” in northern Germany, as “a large part of renewable energy generation” takes place there.
The German Hydrogen Association (DWV) expressed a similar view. “The expansion of renewables is progressing particularly in northern Germany,” says Friedrike Lassen, Head of Policy and Regulation at the DWV, to IPPEN.MEDIAIn order to achieve the climate targets, a strong expansion of renewable energies and the provision of green hydrogen are needed. Bavaria has long been slow to expand, but according to current figures from the Federal Network Agency, it is catching up significantly, especially when it comes to the existing stock of solar, wind and biomass plants.
However, there is still room for improvement in the rest of the infrastructure. One problem is the question of how energy such as hydrogen can get from A to B, for example from northern Germany to Bavaria. “The necessary pipeline capacities to transport renewable energies to the main consumption areas, such as Bavaria, are still lacking,” says Lassen. “We therefore need a hydrogen network in Bavaria, Germany and Europe that can transport large amounts of renewable energy reliably and cost-effectively.”
Bavaria ambitious: Free State to become “Europe’s hydrogen hub”
The Bavarian state government, made up of the Free Democrats and the CSU, has written hydrogen promotion into its coalition agreement. “We want to develop Bavaria into the number one hydrogen state and hydrogen hub in Europe,” it says. To achieve this, Bavaria will invest around 700 million euros in its own resources. “It’s the right step, but not yet enough,” says Lassen from the DWV. “But Bavaria has the potential to catch up here if the right political framework is set and the investment climate is stimulated.”
The association also calls on the federal government to take responsibility. “In order for Bavaria to become a hydrogen hub in Europe, as the Söder government plans, the federal government must set the appropriate course.” For example, the European hydrogen import potential must be increased. Energy from other European countries such as Romania, Bulgaria or Greece. “The idea behind this would be to use the good potential for generating renewable energy in southern and southeastern Europe, produce green hydrogen locally and import it to Germany via pipeline.”
The Bavarian idea of a hydrogen hub could thus take shape. Because: “Geographically speaking, this would take place via Bavaria.” However, this has not yet been decided, but the association believes: “The implementation of such a regulation would be possible this year.” (as)
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