PM hails approval by European Commission of state-aid scheme to support hydrogen production

Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca on Monday hailed the decision of the European Commission to approve a state aid scheme worth 149 million euros supporting the production of hydrogen from renewable sources, which will help Romania's effort to achieve its objectives under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), in terms of green energy.

"I welcome today's decision of the European Commission and I am confident in our ability to absorb these funds through projects that will help us reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and develop the production of hydrogen from renewable sources in our country. The diversification of energy sources is a priority, especially in the current context, and looking towards alternative sources is natural, given our concern for the environment and for the future generations," said Ciuca, according to a message posted on the Government's Facebook page.

According to the Prime Minister, the Bucharest authorities will continue in a "coordinated" and "coherent" manner efforts to reach the targets and milestones undertaken within the PNRR.

"We regularly have working discussions within the Monitoring Committee of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan in order to keep ourselves up to date with each step that is done. We capitalize on all the funding opportunities we have through the EU Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, considering that for 85% of the competitive project calls under the PNRR, including here the state aid schemes, we have deadlines established in 2022. At the Government level, we have prepared the solutions to ensure the necessary co-financing for their implementation and to capitalize on the European money for the benefit of the Romanian citizens and the national economy," said Nicolae Ciuca.

The European Commission approved, on Monday, based on the EU norms regarding the state aid schemes, a 149 million euro aid scheme for Romania made available through the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism ("RRM") to support hydrogen production from renewable sources, Agerpres.

"Th measure adopted today will contribute to the achievement of the EU Hydrogen Strategy and the ambitions of the European Green Deal. Moreover, the measure will help Romania replace natural gas, coal and oil in hard-to-decarbonize industries and in transport and reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels, in line with the REPowerEU plan," said European Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager.