This week’s Power-to-X news was about money and infrastructure. Three European governments committed more than €2 billion to get eSAF to market, the Hydrogen Council took stock of a global hydrogen industry that is bigger than many assume, and BMW began connecting a car plant to the hydrogen core network. Here is our review of the week of 12 to 19 October 2026.
Germany, Austria and Luxembourg fund an eSAF auction with €2.1 billion
Germany, Austria and Luxembourg want to speed up the market for eSAF, aviation fuel made from renewable electricity, with a “dual-track auction mechanism”. Germany contributes €2 billion; Austria and Luxembourg add up to €60 million each. The idea addresses a familiar bottleneck: producers need long-term purchase agreements before they can invest, while airlines and fuel buyers usually sign for shorter periods. Public money is meant to cover the gap between the price producers need and the price buyers will pay. The subsidised volumes will be shared between the three countries in proportion to their funding. The programme still needs approval from the European Commission under state aid rules. All three countries are founding members of the eSAF Early Movers’ Coalition, launched in December 2025. Switzerland adopted the ReFuelEU Aviation regulation on 1 January 2026, so the same blending obligations apply here, but there is no comparable Swiss support instrument yet. (Source: Power-to-X.com, 13 October)
Hydrogen Council: more than $130 billion of committed investment
The Hydrogen Council’s “Global Hydrogen Compass 2026” counts more than 570 projects worldwide with committed investments above $130 billion and a combined output of 6.9 million tonnes a year; about 90% are under construction or operating. Global production capacity nearly doubled last year to 1.7 million tonnes a year and is projected to reach 3.8 million tonnes next year. China holds more than half of committed renewable hydrogen capacity and accounted for 90% of new operating capacity added globally since 2025. Europe ranks second and leads in the number of projects that have reached a final investment decision (232). The warning is on the demand side: of a potential 11 million tonnes of clean hydrogen demand by 2030, only about 6 million tonnes is secured. The Council calls on governments to act urgently with incentives, regulation and carbon pricing. (Source: Power-to-X.com, 15 October)
BMW builds a hydrogen pipeline into its Leipzig plant
BMW has started building a pipeline of about 2 km that will connect its Leipzig plant to the German hydrogen core network. The existing natural gas pipeline will be converted to hydrogen and a new one will carry natural gas, so each gas has its own line. Completion is planned for the first half of 2028. BMW says Leipzig will be the world’s first car plant supplied with hydrogen directly by pipeline. The plant already runs a fleet of more than 230 fuel cell vehicles in internal logistics and has dual-fuel burners in its paint shop. The project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and the Free State of Saxony. (Source: Power-to-X.com, 12 October)
EU, Germany and Chile continue their hydrogen and Power-to-X cooperation
The EU, Germany and Chile signed a declaration to continue working together on renewable hydrogen and Power-to-X and to move projects towards investment. The first phase of the “Renewable Hydrogen for Chile” initiative ran from 2023 to 2026, was co-financed by the EU and Germany and helped modernise Chile’s environmental impact assessment and advise on large-scale hydrogen and green ammonia projects. (Source: Power-to-X.com ticker week 42, 16 October)
Briefly noted
- Siemens Energy brings a digital twin to Galp’s electrolyser in Sines. The Hydrogen Performance Suite is meant to save up to 15% of energy at the GalpH2Park in Portugal, which is designed for up to 15,000 tonnes of renewable hydrogen a year. Plug Power installed the ten PEM electrolysers (100 MW) in February 2026; commissioning is planned by the end of 2026. (Power-to-X.com, 16 October)
- HyHeat pilot plant opens in Simmerath, Germany. The Schwartz Group and Forschungszentrum Jülich are testing hydrogen in industrial heating above 900 °C with a multifuel burner. First hydrogen tests succeeded; the focus is now on optimising the whole system. (Power-to-X.com, 16 October)
- Power Cell wins a follow-up order for hydrogen-electric bulk carriers. The Norwegian GMI Group ordered ten more fuel cell systems (over 2 MW) worth SEK 27 million for delivery in 2027 and 2028. (Power-to-X.com, 16 October)
What it means for Power-to-X
The week’s three big stories point in the same direction: supply is growing faster than secured demand. The Hydrogen Council’s numbers show that the plants are being built; the gap is on the buyer side. The German-Austrian-Luxembourg auction is an attempt to close it for eSAF with public money, and BMW’s pipeline shows what industrial offtake looks like when the infrastructure is there. For Switzerland, which has taken over the EU’s blending rules for aviation fuel, the open question is how to turn the obligation into actual demand for domestic and imported eSAF. No Swiss project or policy news reached us this week; we will keep watching.
🤖 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 →