Policy record
Klimaschutzverträge (Carbon Contracts for Difference for Industry)
Klimaschutzverträge (Carbon Contracts for Difference for Industry) policy record on H2Prism, with its status, summary, checked official source, and record date.
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8 sourced values · 0 earlier records
JurisdictionDEU
Legal statusin_force
Instrumentcarbon_pricing
Effective2024-03-12
Policy details
SummaryGermany's 'climate contracts' programme (Klimaschutzverträge) provides 15-year Carbon Contracts for Difference (CCfDs) to energy-intensive industrial companies switching to low-carbon processes (including green hydrogen-based direct reduction steelmaking or hydrogen feedstock in chemicals): the government pays the difference between a project's fixed 'strike price' (€/tonne CO2e avoided) and the prevailing EU ETS carbon price; companies repay the subsidy if carbon prices exceed the strike price.
Key thresholdsEligible sectors: steel, chemicals, cement/lime, glass, paper, metallurgical. Minimum annual emission threshold: 10,000 tCO2 (smaller firms may form consortia). Emission reduction milestones: ≥50% reduction vs. baseline by year 4 (updated from ≥60% by year 3 in Round 1 rules); ≥85% reduction in the final contract year (updated from ≥90%). Contract duration: 15 years. Round 1 (2024): €4 bn budget, 15 contracts awarded, ~€2.8 bn maximum funding volume, projected CO2 savings ~17 Mt over contract period. Round 2 launched 2025: up to €5 bn. Strike prices are confidential / not publicly disclosed per winner.
Support valueRound 1: up to €2.8 bn awarded to 15 companies; Round 2: up to €5 bn; indicative programme total: several tens of billions of euros over the long term. Individual cap per applicant: €1 bn in Round 1.
Practical implicationFor hydrogen-consuming steel or chemical projects, the CCfD is the primary route to bridging the green premium for decades — but because strike prices are competitively bid and confidential, developers must model a credible CO2 abatement cost that undercuts rivals while still making the project bankable.
Official source
| Source | Publisher | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| Open official source ↗ | www.bundeswirtschaftsministerium.de | 2026-08-31T17:47:03Z |