The European Commission has announced the results of the first call for grants under the Innovation Fund. The project for the construction of a green hydrogen plant submitted by ZEPAK was among the projects selected for co-financing. The project will receive a grant of approximately EUR 4.5 million as non-repayable funding.

The project implemented by the Company involves the construction of a system enabling the production and storage of green hydrogen intended for the needs of the transport sector. Hydrogen will be produced by two electrolyte and polymer membrane electrolysers (PEM – Proton Exchange Membrane) with a total capacity of 5MW, in which innovative solutions will be implemented to increase their efficiency. The electrolysers will be powered by energy from renewable energy sources, and the system will produce about 710 tons of green hydrogen per year.

It is expected that the project for producing hydrogen and its use in the transport sector will enable to avoid ca. 96 percent of greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional technology.

As part of the call for funds from the Innovation Fund, 232 projects from 29 European countries competed in the field of renewable sources, energy storage and energy-intensive industry. 32 projects from sixteen countries, including the ZEPAK project, were selected for signing the co-financing agreement. The total value of subsidies granted by the European Commission is EUR 118 million. The European Commission plans to conclude co-financing agreements with the winners of the competition in the fourth quarter of 2021.

This co-financing from the European Union will support ZEPAK in the implementation of investments in the production of green hydrogen, the performance of which is allowed by the decision on environmental conditions for the project consisting in the construction of a hydrogen plant with accompanying infrastructure issued for the Company last week by the President of Konin.

ZEPAK's investment projects for the production of green hydrogen are part of the process of energy transition and just transition of Eastern Greater Poland. The construction of a hydrogen plant along with the accompanying infrastructure at the Konin Power Plant is an element of the ZEPAK transformation strategy, the aim of which is to completely abandon lignite mining by 2030 and to shut down power plants using this raw material for the electricity production.