The European Hydrogen Bank's second auction for renewable hydrogen production has seen a remarkable response, with 61 bids coming in from projects across 11 European Economic Area (EEA) countries. Notably, eight bids were focused on serving the maritime sector's hydrogen needs specifically. The total grant support requested by these projects has eclipsed €4.8 billion, a figure four times higher than the allocated budget of €1.2 billion from the Innovation Fund. These ambitious projects collectively aim to achieve a 6.3 Gigawatts (GWe) electrolyzer capacity, which could generate over 7.3 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen over a ten-year period. This output would significantly contribute to the EU's REPowerEU target by covering 7% of the domestic renewable hydrogen production objective for 2030. The evaluation of these bids is now in the hands of the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), which will assess them against the outlined qualification criteria. Successful applicants are anticipated to be announced by the end of May 2025, with Grant Agreements to follow. Moreover, the Commission plans to utilize insights from this auction to refine the Terms & Conditions for a third hydrogen auction, scheduled to be launched by the end of 2025, demonstrating a clear commitment to advancing sustainable hydrogen production in Europe.