Germany is to join France, Spain and Portugal in an ambitious hydrogen project that could see greener gas generated using renewables piped from the Iberian peninsula.
ADVERTISEMENTA green hydrogen pipeline supplying France from Spain and Portugal is to be extended to Germany.
It is part of a new “joint road map” on hydrogen announced jointly by Paris and Berlin to step up “investments in the technologies of tomorrow, particularly renewable and low carbon energies”.
The so-called H2Med undersea pipeline from the Iberian peninsula to France is set to enter operation by 2030 carrying hydrogen produced using renewables. It is expected to transport up to 2 million metric tonnes of green hydrogen a year, which amounts to 10% of the total European Union’s consumption, according to Spanish authorities.
H2Med undersea pipeline
Spanish Ecological Transition Minister Teresa Ribera called Germany joining the project “excellent news.”
In September 2022, the EU Commission approved €5.2 billion in EU public funding for hydrogen projects
Although much faith is being place in hydrogen as a cleaner fuel for the future, a transition from natural gas will be an extremely complex undertaking.
It will require an overhaul of the whole gas eco-system including distribution, storage, transmission including pipelines, storage sites, ports and a potential reinvention of domestic and industrial appliances.
Stakeholders from across the European gas value chain are collaborating on an interactive map to show the development of the system.