This week the Power-to-X news was about who pays and who stays committed. Three European governments put more than two billion euros on the table to close the price gap for e-kerosene. In Brussels, 170 companies asked the Commission not to pull the regulatory floor out from under the green hydrogen market. And in India, the foundation stone was laid for the country’s first port-based e-methanol plant. Here is our review of the week of 21 to 28 September.
Germany, Austria and Luxembourg launch a €2.12 billion double auction for eSAF
Reported on 25 September: Germany, Austria and Luxembourg have launched a dual-auction mechanism to support the European market ramp-up of renewable electricity-based sustainable aviation fuel (eSAF). Germany will provide up to €2 billion, Austria and Luxembourg up to €60 million each. On the supply side, eSAF producers compete to offer fuel at the lowest price; on the demand side, buyers bid for supplies. An intermediary signs longer-term contracts with producers and shorter-term agreements with buyers, and public funding covers the price gap between the two. The supported volumes are to be marketed in the three countries in proportion to their contributions. The design matters as much as the budget: producers get the long-term revenue certainty that project finance needs, while competitive bidding keeps the subsidy per tonne in check. It is essentially the H2Global logic applied to aviation, and a template Switzerland should watch closely. (Source: pv magazine)
170 companies urge Brussels to keep binding RFNBO targets beyond 2030
On 24 September, 170 companies from across the hydrogen value chain sent a letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera and Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen, calling for the Renewable Energy Directive’s transport and industry targets for renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs) to be kept, and extended beyond 2030. Removing them, the signatories argue, would not be simplification: it would waste six years of work, punish first movers and undermine confidence in EU climate and energy policy. They point to more than €15 billion already committed to end-use hydrogen applications in Europe, investment up 35% over the past year and more than 4 GW of electrolysis capacity under construction. The letter is a clear signal that the demand side created by RED III is what is carrying current investment decisions. (Sources: Fuel Cells Works, Hydrogen Europe)
India: foundation stone for the first port-based e-methanol plant in Kandla
At Deendayal Port in Kandla, Gujarat, the foundation stone was laid for India’s first port-based e-methanol plant. The facility will produce 150 tonnes of e-methanol per day from renewable electricity, water and biogenic CO2 for ships on the Asia-Europe trade corridor. It is a joint venture of the Deendayal Port Authority (76%) and Assam Petro-Chemicals (24%) with a total investment of Rs 2,300 crore. A first 50 t/day phase is targeted for January 2027, a second 100 t/day phase for March 2027. The partners aim for a production cost of around USD 750 per tonne, against an estimated global cost of about USD 1,300; that target will need to be proven in operation. Reported on 28 September. (Source: Channeliam)
Electrolysers: Ansaldo adds 300 MW of AEM stack capacity, Hysata starts production
Ansaldo Green Tech has completed a new production line for anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyser stacks in Genoa, Italy, with an annual capacity of more than 300 MW. Its modular range starts with a 1 MW containerised system producing about 500 kg of hydrogen per day. In Australia, Hysata has commissioned the first production line at its Port Kembla headquarters and launched HysataFab, an AI-optimised manufacturing platform with real-time monitoring, robotics and inline quality testing that the company says yields up to 15% more output from the same line; the scale-up targets 200 MW of annual capacity. This is the next step after last week’s A$49 million ARENA grant. (Sources: pv magazine, SolarQuarter)
Briefly noted
- AfDB backs four African projects with $20 million. The African Development Bank will provide reimbursable grants to Egypt’s Ra project, Morocco’s Guelmim Green Hydrogen Valley, Namibia’s Hyphen project and South Africa’s Saldanha Hydrogen DRI project, which together represent an estimated $23 billion in investment and 7 GW of electrolysis. (pv magazine, Power-to-X.com ticker, 25 September)
- India tenders green ammonia for Maharashtra. On 24 September the Solar Energy Corporation of India issued a request for selection for 54,000 tonnes per year of green ammonia supply to Maharashtra under Tranche II of the SIGHT programme, with cost-based bidding and an e-reverse auction. (SolarQuarter)
- Maruti Suzuki commissions a 300 kW electrolyser. India’s largest carmaker has started a green hydrogen pilot at its Manesar plant, using surplus solar power generated on non-production days; the hydrogen is blended with natural gas as process fuel. Reported 24 September. (Fuel Cells Works)
- Uniper sells its OPAL stake to Hy24. Uniper is selling its 20% stake in the 470 km OPAL pipeline from Lubmin to Brandov, part of Germany’s hydrogen core network, to Hy24’s Clean Hydrogen Infrastructure Fund. (Power-to-X.com ticker, 25 September)
- Finland: Cefmof invests €1.5 million in Reduciner. Reduciner converts CO2 into synthesis gas that can be combined with renewable hydrogen; the partners will launch a joint project in Jyväskylä. (Power-to-X.com ticker, 25 September)
- Stuttgart opens an industrial-scale hydrogen test platform. The University of Stuttgart has inaugurated the second Wave-H2 site in Freudenstadt, covering production, power-to-X, storage and fuel cells at industrial scale, with around €36 million in federal research funding. (Power-to-X.com ticker, 25 September)
What it means for Power-to-X
Read together, this week’s two European stories describe the same mechanism from two sides. The eSAF double auction is a public buyer of last resort that turns a price gap into a bankable contract. The RFNBO targets are the regulatory demand that gives private buyers a reason to sign in the first place. Take away either, and the 4 GW under construction becomes harder to repeat. India, meanwhile, shows the other lever: state-owned ports and petrochemical companies simply building the first plant. For Switzerland, which has neither a quota nor an auction for renewable fuels yet, the lesson from last week’s Power-to-X Congress in Bern still holds: the technology is ready, the framework is not.
🤖 AI transparency: This text and its visual were created using AI, reviewed and approved by a human.
Power-to-X Congress Switzerland 2026 — «Reality Check with Net Zero». Missed the congress on 22 September at the Kursaal Bern, co-organised by energie-cluster.ch and SPIN with partner Réseau H2 Suisse Romande? Read our recap →