Spain accelerates hydrogen infrastructure: HVR Energy secures €12.75 million for 30 new stations

Spanish company HVR Energy has secured €12.75 million in financing from the Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO), Spain's official state credit institution, for the rollout of 30 new hydrogen refuelling stations across the country. The funding supports the ACTIVA project, which aims to make affordable, accessible green hydrogen available for road transport. The announcement was confirmed by Renewable Energy Magazine, Mobility Plaza and Renewables Now based on an official ICO press release.

Not the first round — but the largest

This is the second time in two years that ICO has backed HVR Energy financially. In 2025, the institution provided €7 million for the deployment of 20 hydrogen stations. The new round of €12.75 million is both larger in scale and in ambition — 30 stations in a single financing round represents an exceptional level of commitment by European standards.

On top of the ICO loan, HVR Energy receives a €7.6 million European grant through the CEF AFIF programme (Connecting Europe Facility – Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility) of the European Commission. In the most recent CEF AFIF tender call, HVR secured backing for 30 of the 38 hydrogen stations awarded across the whole of Europe — representing 79% of the European allocation.

In total, HVR Energy has now mobilised more than €33 million in public and private funding, enabling the deployment of at least 55 stations by 2028, with a target of 75 operational stations in Spain by 2030.

The ACTIVA model: station as a service

HVR Energy's approach is as interesting commercially as it is in scale. Under the ACTIVA model, hydrogen stations are installed at existing petrol stations and offered on an all-inclusive lease basis. The station operator makes no upfront capital investment: HVR provides the station, the hydrogen, and the maintenance as a service.

That significantly lowers the barrier for existing service station owners. Rather than investing millions in new infrastructure, they can simply add hydrogen to their offering via a rental contract. The stations themselves are manufactured by Austrian firm Wolftank, an internationally recognised player in energy solutions.

Strategic positioning across Europe

HVR Energy is not limiting its ambitions to Spain. The company has signed a cooperation agreement with CEEES, the Spanish confederation of service station owners, and is positioning itself as a key player in the European TEN-T network — the Trans-European Transport Network that forms the backbone of European road freight.

The timing is strategically well-chosen. The European AFIR Regulation (Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation) obliges member states to develop hydrogen refuelling infrastructure along major European transport corridors. Spain — positioned at the intersection of Atlantic and Mediterranean logistics routes — is a logical location for a large-scale network.

What this means for the sector

HVR Energy's rollout shows that European hydrogen infrastructure is no longer dependent solely on pilot projects and demonstrations. With successive financing rounds, European subsidies, and a scalable business model, building a functioning network is becoming a matter of execution — not concept.

Sources:

- Renewable Energy Magazine (09-04-2026): https://www.renewableenergymagazine.com/hydrogen/spain-s-hvr-energy-landsa-a-12-20260409

- Mobility Plaza (08-04-2026): https://www.mobilityplaza.org/news/44472

- Renewables Now (07-04-2026): https://renewablesnow.com/news/hvr-energy-lands-eur-12-75m-financing-for-h2-refuelling-stations-in-spain-1292728/

- Capital-Riesgo.es: https://capital-riesgo.es/en/articles/ico-supports-the-rollout-of-30-new-hydrogen-refueling-stations-in-spain-with-12-75-million-in-financing-to-hvr-energy/