May 14, 2026 [Gasworld]- Spain will distribute a total of €439.4m ($509m) in production subsidies across three green hydrogen projects, which missed out on European Hydrogen Bank (EHB) funding.

The three projects, two in the Huelva region and one in Albacete, have a combined production capacity of 250MW and were shortlisted for the second EHB round, but exceeded the allocated EU budget.

Now, they will receive per kilogramme subsidies for ten-years from Spain’s Covid recovery budget.

The funds will be allocated by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) through the European Commission’s Auction-as-a-service (AaaS) mechanism.

Bilbao-based energy utility, Iberdrola, will receive €250m ($293) for its Huelva 140MW green hydrogen facility and €139m ($163m) for its Palos de la Frontera 80MW plant. Doña Urraca Energy will receive €50m ($59m) for its 30MW project in Albacete.

MITECO said the subsidies will exhaust its budget for Spain’s second Energy as a Service auctions, and recipients must produce certifiable renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO), compliant green hydrogen.

It comes after the first national auction awarded €220m to three projects.

AaaS is designed to help member states support hydrogen projects without having to create their own national auction systems from scratch.

Last week, the EHB announced its third round of project selections, distributing over €1bn ($1.18bn) to nine projects with a combined 1.1GW capacity.

Spain remains one of Europe’s most ambitious green hydrogen markets, with aims to capitalise on abundant solar and wind resources, strong government policy, and a revised target of 12GW of electrolyser capacity by 2030.

It is positioning itself as a major domestic producer and future exporter through the cross-border pipeline project, the H2Med corridor.

While its project pipeline represents one of the largest in Europe, it faces similar issues around offtake demand, infrastructure delays, and project economics and financing.