The short answer
Producing a kilogram of renewable hydrogen in the EU cost between about €6.7 and €8 in 2024, depending on the source: the European Hydrogen Observatory puts it at €6.71/kg and ACER, the EU agency of energy regulators, at around €8/kg. In Spain the figure is lower: the MIBGAS IBHYX index stood between €6.1 and €6.2/kg from May to August 2026.
These are production costs, not traded prices. The weekly indices published in Iberia, MIBGAS IBHYX and the GaugeH2 index among them, are built from the modelled cost of a reference plant, not from transactions.
Four numbers that are often confused
Production cost (LCOH)
The price per kg that recovers all the costs of a plant over its life, including the return on capital. It is what this guide measures.
Index value
The modelled production cost of a reference plant, published every week. MIBGAS IBHYX and the GaugeH2 index are of this kind.
Auction premium
The subsidy per kg that a project bids in a European Hydrogen Bank auction. It is paid on top of what the buyer pays, so it is not a price.
Pump price
What a vehicle pays at a refuelling station, with compression, transport and the station’s margin. We have not found a public, verifiable figure for Spain.
Europe: between €6.7 and €8 per kg
The European Hydrogen Observatory estimates the levelised cost of renewable hydrogen in the EU at €6.71/kg for 2024. ACER puts the average production cost at around €8/kg, about four times the cost of hydrogen made from fossil fuels.
The difference comes from method: the Observatory computes a levelised cost from its own assumptions, while ACER works from assessed market costs. Neither is wrong; they answer different questions, so a figure should always be read with its source and its year.
€/kg
Each bar comes from the source in its label; see the sources at the end.
Spain and Portugal: around €6 per kg
MIBGAS, the Iberian gas market operator, publishes IBHYX every week: the levelised cost of a reference electrolysis plant on the Iberian Peninsula that meets the EU criteria for renewable hydrogen (RFNBO). It started at €5.85/kg on 16 December 2024 and stood between €6.1 and €6.2/kg from May to August 2026.
The GaugeH2 index, published every week on this site, uses a different method: a 10 MW PEM plant whose only variable input is the OMIE day-ahead electricity price, for Spain and Portugal separately. It is a best-case floor, not a delivered cost.
Grey hydrogen: the cost to beat
Hydrogen made from natural gas without carbon capture cost about €3.3/kg in Europe in 2024, according to the Observatory, and a little over €2/kg between January and October 2025, according to ACER.
Its cost follows the price of gas, which is why the gap with renewable hydrogen changes from one year to the next.
What the European Hydrogen Bank auctions show
In its auctions, the European Hydrogen Bank pays a fixed premium per kg of renewable hydrogen for up to ten years. The winning bids were €0.37–0.48/kg in the pilot auction (April 2024), €0.20–0.60/kg in the second (May 2025) and €0.44–3.49/kg in the third (May 2026), where the upper end comes from the maritime basket.
Spain adds its own budget for projects that the EU could not fund: in May 2026 it allocated €439.4 million to three projects with 250 MW.
What moves the cost
Electricity: at 50–55 kWh per kg, every €10/MWh on the power price adds about €0.5/kg. The operating hours decide how thinly the investment is spread.
The electrolyser: the IEA puts installed electrolyser costs outside China at USD 2,000–2,600/kW in 2024, and the Observatory at €2,310/kW for alkaline and €2,503/kW for PEM. The cost of capital (WACC) and the project life complete the picture.
The figures at a glance
| Figure | Value and source |
|---|---|
| Renewable hydrogen, EU (2024) | €6.71/kg (EHO); about €8/kg (ACER) |
| MIBGAS IBHYX | €5.85/kg at launch (December 2024); €6.1–6.2/kg (May–August 2026) |
| Grey hydrogen, Europe | about €3.3/kg (EHO, 2024); a little over €2/kg (ACER, January–October 2025) |
| European Hydrogen Bank premiums | €0.37–0.48/kg (2024); €0.20–0.60/kg (2025); €0.44–3.49/kg (2026) |
| Installed electrolyser, 2024 | USD 2,000–2,600/kW outside China (IEA); €2,310–2,503/kW (EHO) |
A check you can do yourself
Electricity alone: 52 kWh per kg × €60/MWh = €3.12 per kg. That is the floor set by the power price, before the plant is paid for.
The rest of the cost — the investment, operation and maintenance, stack replacements, water and the cost of capital — is what the LCOH calculator adds, input by input, with the origin of each figure.
Frequently asked questions
What is the price of green hydrogen today?
For Spain and Portugal, the published references are weekly indices that give a modelled production cost: MIBGAS IBHYX stood between €6.1 and €6.2/kg from May to August 2026, and the GaugeH2 index, based on OMIE prices, is published every week on this site.
Why is green hydrogen more expensive than grey?
Because each kilogram needs about 50 kWh of electricity and the electrolysers are still costly, while grey hydrogen uses natural gas and emits CO2. ACER put renewable hydrogen at about four times the cost of fossil hydrogen in 2024.
What is a fixed premium in the European Hydrogen Bank?
A payment per kg of renewable hydrogen produced, for up to ten years, set by the project’s own bid. In the third auction, in 2026, the winning bids ranged from €0.44 to €3.49/kg.
How much does a kilo of hydrogen cost at a refuelling station in Spain?
We have not found a public, verifiable price per kg for Spanish stations as of November 2026. The pump price includes compression, transport and the station’s margin, so it cannot be compared with the production cost.
Sources
- European Hydrogen Observatory — The European hydrogen market landscape (November 2025)
- ACER — European hydrogen markets 2025 (2 December 2025)
- pv magazine — Price gap between conventional, renewable hydrogen widens in Europe (3 December 2025)
- El Periódico de la Energía — España pone precio al hidrógeno renovable: MIBGAS fija en 148,36 €/MWh (16 December 2024)
- H2 View — MIBGAS launches first Iberian hydrogen index at €5.85/kg (December 2024)
- Valle del Hidrógeno — Informe 2026: mapa y análisis (June 2026)
- AP2H2 — Notícias, weekly MIBGAS IBHYX values (consulted 9 November 2026)
- European Commission — IP/24/2333, European Hydrogen Bank pilot auction (30 April 2024)
- Balkan Green Energy News — EU to back seven green hydrogen projects with EUR 720 million (1 May 2024)
- European Commission — IP/25/1264, second European Hydrogen Bank auction (20 May 2025)
- Hydrogen Europe — The Commission selects 15 projects to receive nearly €1 billion (20 May 2025)
- European Commission — IP/26/1004, third European Hydrogen Bank auction (7 May 2026)
- Hydrogen Europe — High levels of competition in 3rd EU Hydrogen Bank auction (7 May 2026)
- MITECO — El MITECO asigna 440 millones de la segunda subasta nacional (13 May 2026)
- Energías Renovables — El Gobierno destina 440 millones a tres proyectos (13 May 2026)
- IEA — Global Hydrogen Review 2025, executive summary (September 2025)