The European Commission has approved a significant €998 million Dutch scheme aimed at enhancing renewable hydrogen production, in a move crucial to the EU's climate goals and energy security strategy. The scheme aligns with the EU Hydrogen Strategy and the European Green Deal, with a specific focus on supporting the REPowerEU Plan to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels and expedite the green transition. It involves increasing the Netherlands' electrolysis capacity by constructing a minimum of 200 MW of new facilities. Financial aid will be allocated through a competitive process to be completed by 2024, offering up to 80% of investment costs as an upfront grant and additional premium incentives over 5 to 10 years. The scheme is pivotal for the Netherlands' goals of scaling up electrolysis capacity to 500 MW by 2025 and further to 3-4 GW by 2030, contributing to the broader EU target of installing 6 GW of renewable hydrogen electrolysers by 2024 and 40 GW by 2030. This initiative is estimated to mitigate around 55 kilotons of CO2 emissions annually until 2030, aligning with national and EU climate objectives. The European Commission's evaluation, conducted under EU State aid regulations and the 2022 Guidelines on State Aid for Climate, Environmental Protection, and Energy, affirmed the scheme's necessity in advancing renewable hydrogen production. Margrethe Vestager, the Executive Vice-President for Competition Policy, highlighted the scheme's significance in promoting renewable hydrogen production to support the EU's climate neutrality objective. The approval of this scheme follows an earlier Dutch initiative targeting small-scale electrolysers, demonstrating the ongoing commitment to enhancing renewable energy and hydrogen utilization in meeting ambitious climate and energy goals. The non-confidential version of the decision will be made available on the Commission's Competition website for public access.