The latest auction results from the European Hydrogen Bank confirm that Power-to-X is not only a strategic priority for Europe but increasingly backed by serious funding. Among the awarded projects is Orange.Bat, a 100 MW green hydrogen plant in Castellón, Spain, developed by Smartenergy – a member of the Swiss Power-to-X Collaborative Innovation Network (SPIN).
The project will receive €82.5 million in funding over ten years through the EU’s “Auction-as-a-Service” mechanism, which enables national schemes to channel European support directly to renewable hydrogen projects. Spain is the first country to implement this approach, and Orange.Bat is the first project to benefit from it.
What makes Orange.Bat stand out is its strong market integration: approximately 75 percent of its hydrogen output is already secured through long-term offtake agreements, mainly with ceramics manufacturers in the Valencia region, who will replace natural gas in high-temperature processes. This is a concrete example of how Power-to-X can deliver real industrial decarbonisation with clear demand and local impact.
The project also recently achieved a major regulatory milestone, receiving the first Integrated Environmental Authorisation for a green hydrogen facility in its region — a critical step toward permitting large-scale P2X infrastructure across Europe.
Orange.Bat demonstrates that with the right combination of financial support, market-driven project design, and regulatory clarity, Power-to-X is becoming both bankable and scalable. The European Hydrogen Bank is providing the framework — and projects like Orange.Bat are turning it into real-world impact.
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