As a member of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Austria is obliged to annually record all research, development and demonstration projects in the energy sector carried out in Austria that were subsidised or financed with public funds.

Expenditure in the area of “hydrogen and fuel cells” rose again in 2024, reaching 65.3 million euros. The high expenditure in 2024 is also largely due to the funds provided for IPCEI projects (Important Projects of Common European Interest). This exceeded the peak value of 61.5 million euros in the previous year. At 92.5%, the “hydrogen” sub-area covered the majority of activities in 2024.

Expenditure in the area of “hydrogen” jumped to 31.5 million euros in 2021. A slight decline to 28.5 million euros was recorded for 2022. At 46.0 million euros in 2023, this decline was halted and a new peak value was reached.  This was exceeded again in 2024 with 60.4 million euros. At 51.6 million euros, 85% of these funds were provided by the federal ministries in 2024. Both the production and distribution and use of hydrogen are covered here, and there are also numerous projects with an integrative approach.

In the “fuel cells” sub-area, which covers stationary and mobile applications, funding fell massively in 2022 after years of continuous growth. After 9.2 million euros in 2021 and only 1.5 million euros in 2022, a new peak value of 15.4 million euros was reached in 2023. Expenditure in this area fell sharply again in 2024, reaching just 4.8 million euros.

According to the IEA convention, the use of hydrogen in mobility and fuel cells is recorded in other categories.

Further information can be found in the annual publication on energy research expenditure at nachhaltigwirtschaften.at