RWE has won a grant of about $134 million from the Dutch government to build a 50 MW electrolyser at Eemshaven, on the Netherlands' northern coast. The plant will run on power from a wind farm RWE already owns next door. Measured per megawatt of electrolyser, the subsidy is generous by European standards. It is not the most generous one in the Netherlands.
Key takeaways
- RWE secured a grant of $133.56 million from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) for the Eemshydrogen project at Eemshaven in the Netherlands, announced on 29 April 2024.
- The RVO grant funds construction of the 50 MW Eemshydrogen electrolysis plant, which will produce green hydrogen and be directly connected to RWE's Westereems onshore wind farm.
- RWE's Eemshydrogen grant works out at about $2.67 million per MW of electrolyser capacity, based on Leap's recorded grant amount and the plant's 50 MW size.
- Over its entire life cycle the Eemshydrogen project aims to avoid more than 250,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions, which puts the RVO grant at no more than about $534 per tonne of CO2 avoided.
- Among seven European hydrogen grants in Leap since 2023 that state a single plant size, RWE's Eemshydrogen award ranks second per MW, behind HyCC's 20 MW Djewels project in the Netherlands at about $4.34 million per MW.
Why connect an electrolyser directly to a wind farm?
Because the grid is the bottleneck. An electrolyser splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity, and a 50 MW unit is a large, steady new demand on whichever network feeds it. Taking that power from the public grid adds load in the same place where the wind farms are already exporting.
Wiring the plant directly to Westereems sidesteps part of that problem. Leap's record states the aim plainly: the direct connection is meant to ensure green production and "reduce the burden on the electricity grid". It also answers the question every green hydrogen project faces about where its electricity comes from. When the electrons arrive straight from a named wind farm, the renewable claim is easy to evidence.
The trade-off is utilisation. A wind-fed electrolyser runs when the wind blows, not around the clock, so its output per MW of capacity is lower than a grid-fed plant running at high load. That helps explain why public money is needed at all.
How does a $133.56 million grant translate into a price per MW?
Directly. Divide the grant by the plant's 50 MW and the Dutch state is contributing about $2.67 million for every megawatt of electrolyser RWE builds. That is a capital subsidy, paid towards construction, rather than a payment for each kilogram of hydrogen produced.
The distinction matters. Some countries support hydrogen through a price per unit of output, as the UK's first hydrogen allocation round did with a strike price per MWh. A capital grant front-loads the support instead. The government takes the risk that the plant is built but runs less than planned. In return it knows exactly what it has committed.
There is a second way to read the same number. RWE expects Eemshydrogen to avoid more than 250,000 tonnes of CO2 over its life. Spread across that figure, the grant costs at most about $534 per tonne avoided. Because the tonnage is a floor, the true cost per tonne is that figure or lower.
What is the grant meant to unlock beyond the plant?
A market. Leap's record says the funding will "advance the ramp-up of the hydrogen market in Groningen and beyond". A first source of local green hydrogen in Groningen gives nearby users something to switch to before larger supply arrives.
It is not the only hydrogen plan at the port. Equinor and Linde announced the 1 GW low-carbon H2M project at Eemshaven in January 2024, based on natural gas with carbon capture. RWE's 50 MW electrolyser is a small fraction of that scale, but it is wind-powered and grant-backed, which makes it a different kind of bet on the same location.
Enerdatics' data shows 44 European hydrogen government grants recorded from 2023 to mid-2025. Seven of them state a single plant size in megawatts, which allows a per MW comparison. HyCC's Djewels project in the Netherlands received about $87 million for 20 MW in July 2024, or about $4.34 million per MW. RWE's Eemshydrogen follows at about $2.67 million per MW, just ahead of BASF's grant of about $135 million for a 54 MW plant in Germany, at about $2.51 million per MW. Below them sit H2APEX at about $182 million for 100 MW, or $1.82 million per MW, Lhyfe's Grand Canal du Havre at about $162 million for 100 MW, or $1.62 million per MW, Lhyfe's 10 MW Swedish plant at about $1.19 million per MW, and Fusion Fuel's 25 MW HEVO-Aveiro project in Portugal at about $0.22 million per MW. The two Dutch awards are the two highest on this measure.
What does the deal signal for European green hydrogen?
It signals that small, first-of-a-kind electrolysers still need heavy public support, and that the Netherlands is prepared to pay near the top of the European range to get them built. Both Dutch grants in the sample are for plants of 50 MW or less, and both sit above every larger project in the sample on a per MW basis.
It also shows how RWE is spreading its hydrogen bets across borders. Leap records RWE securing about $117 million from the EU Innovation Fund for its FUREC project in the Netherlands in January 2023, about $675 million in German federal and state grants for hydrogen projects in July 2024, three months after the Dutch award, and a much smaller grant of about $5 million from North Rhine-Westphalia for its Bedburg plant in November 2023. Eemshydrogen is the second Dutch leg of a wider programme funded country by country.
The open question is output. A capital grant is fixed. The hydrogen a wind-fed plant actually produces depends on how often Westereems is turning, and that number is not in the public record.
Frequently asked questions
How much did RWE receive for Eemshydrogen? RWE secured a grant of $133.56 million from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), announced on 29 April 2024, to build the 50 MW Eemshydrogen electrolysis plant at Eemshaven in the Netherlands.
Where does Eemshydrogen get its electricity? The 50 MW Eemshydrogen electrolyser will be directly connected to RWE's Westereems onshore wind farm, which is intended to ensure green hydrogen production and reduce the burden on the electricity grid.
How does the Eemshydrogen grant compare with other European hydrogen grants? At about $2.67 million per MW, RWE's Eemshydrogen grant ranks second among seven European hydrogen grants in Leap since 2023 that state a single plant size, behind HyCC's 20 MW Djewels project at about $4.34 million per MW.
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