The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Portuguese Government joined forces to promote the development of the hydrogen sector in the country. EIB Vice-President, Ricardo Mourinho Félix, and Minister of the Environment and Climate Action,

João Pedro Matos Fernandes, signed in Lisbon a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during the High Level Conference “Hydrogen in Society - Bridging the Gaps”, organised by the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union.. The proposed MoU is a non-binding agreement aimed at fostering cooperation between the two entities in the sector.

The hydrogen sector will play an important role in accelerating the energy transition, as outlined in the European Hydrogen Strategy launched by the European Commission in 2020, which aims at building a whole hydrogen ecosystem for a climate-neutral Europe by installing 40GW of green hydrogen capacity by 2030. Thanks to the MoU signed today, the EIB will support Portugal’s ambitious environmental objectives set in the 2030 National Energy and Climate Plan, also known as PNEC 2030, and in the 2050 Carbon Neutral Roadmap for Portugal (RNC2050).

The EIB’s financial support and the technical assistance offered by the Advisory Hub will help to accelerate investments in the sector, while improving the bankability of projects. Specifically, the EIB know-how on complex co-financing structures will enable the development of targeted financial products and innovative financing structures, while stimulating and catalysing investments from other sources.