The four French, Spanish and Portuguese gas transmission operators have signed an industrial cooperation agreement for the development of the H2Med project, the future undersea pipeline that will transport renewable hydrogen from the Iberian Peninsula to the north of the EU.
The Spanish gas transmission system operator Enagás, the French companies GRTgaz and Teréga and the Portuguese gas company REN “have signed a memorandum of understanding to formalize their commitment to collaborate in a coordinated manner in the joint development of H2Med,” they announced in a joint statement.
On Thursday, they will submit the H2Med project to the European Commission as a candidate for the “Project of Common Interest”, a status that allows to obtain European funding.
As for the aeronautics and Airbus, this protocol launches the first stage of industrial cooperation between the three European countries after the mandate given by the three governments concerned at the Euromed summit on December 9.
The countries officially launched this ambitious hydrogen pipeline project, supported by the European Commission, with the aim of making the corridor operational by 2030.
This undersea pipeline is intended to transport so-called “green” hydrogen – made from renewable electricity – from the Iberian Peninsula, which aims to become a champion of this energy of the future, via France to the north of the EU.
However, France does not rule out the possibility that it could also transport hydrogen produced from nuclear energy.
The project includes the development of a hydrogen interconnection between Portugal and Spain (Celórico-Zamora) as well as the development of a maritime gas pipeline linking Spain and France (called “BarMar” for Barcelona-Marseille) to transport renewable hydrogen from the Iberian Peninsula to Central Europe.
It will be “the first pillar of the European Hydrogen Backbone, which aims to accelerate Europe’s decarbonization by creating the hydrogen infrastructure necessary for the development of a competitive, liquid, pan-European hydrogen market,” said French gas transporter GRTgaz.
“This corridor, a revolution by its magnitude, is intended to reach Germany, which wants to import hydrogen to supply its industry” and reduce their dependence on Russian gas, explained to AFP Thierry Trouvé, CEO of GRTgaz.
This “hydrogen pipeline” will be able to transport up to 2 million tons per year by 2030, i.e. 10% of the European consumption expected at that time.
The EU plans to produce 10 million tons of renewable hydrogen by 2030 and import an additional 10 million tons, mainly to decarbonize industry.
