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Robert Habeck
Photo: Sven Hoppe / dpa
Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) will start the first round of bidding in Europe for the new climate protection agreements on Tuesday.
These are intended to help sustainably decarbonize energy-intensive industries in particular.
In the first round, the Ministry of Economic Affairs will make up to four billion euros available to companies.
In order to receive funding, for example for production facilities and pipelines for hydrogen, companies must take part in the auction process: They present how much money they need to save one ton of CO₂ with a new technology.
Anyone who can save greenhouse gases particularly cheaply will be awarded the contract.
If the production of green products becomes cheaper in the future, the companies will pay back to the state.
“The subsidized systems from the first round of bids alone will save several million tons of CO₂,” Habeck told the Handelsblatt.
The addressees of the climate protection agreements are energy-intensive industrial sectors, such as the steel, cement, paper or glass industries.
Climate protection agreements were already mentioned as a possible instrument in the coalition agreement between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP.
It was only in mid-February that the European Commission granted state aid approval for the new climate protection treaty instrument.
In order to prevent distortions of competition between EU states, such approvals for subsidies and similar payments are necessary.
Habeck hopes, among other things, that the development of the hydrogen infrastructure will be better advanced.
mamk/AFP