H2med project is launching its Call for Interest

Today, the H2med partners have officially launched a Call for Interest open until the 18^th of December to assess the needs of future infrastructure users across the hydrogen value chain. This initiative will help to optimise infrastructure design and establish operational requirements.

The H2med project is a transnational initiative between Portugal, Spain, France and Germany to interconnect the hydrogen networks from the Iberian Peninsula to Northwestern Europe. It will unlock the
potential of a hydrogen economy and enable Europe to meet its decarbonisation and reindustrialisation objectives thanks to an affordable green hydrogen supply by 2030. The H2med Corridor includes a hydrogen interconnection between Portugal and Spain, CelZa (Celorico da Beira – Zamora), with a capacity of 0.75 million tons (Mt) per year, as well as a maritime pipeline connecting Spain to France, BarMar (Barcelona – Marseille), with a 2 Mt/year capacity. Both interconnections have been included in the list of Projects of Common Interest (PCI) published on the 8 th of April 2024.

The H2med Call for Interest aims to identify the needs in all the areas covered by the Corridor, in particular the national hydrogen backbones that the five project promoters aim to build by 2030:

• In Portugal, where extensive wind and solar programmes have been launched, REN is planning a hydrogen infrastructure capable of exporting 0.75 million tons per year of hydrogen via H2med.

• In Spain, Enagás, provisional Hydrogen Transmission Network Operator (HTNO), has received the approval by the Council of Ministers to develop, build and operate the Spanish hydrogen backbone with 2,700 km of pipelines with two associated storage facilities, as well as jointly developing with its partners the H2med Corridor, positioning the Iberian Peninsula as an export hub for renewable hydrogen in Europe up to 2 million tons per year.

• In France, GRTgaz is working on HY-FEN, a 1,000 km hydrogen connection project running from Marseille to Obergailbach on the German border, identified as well in the latest PCI list. It will link the potential hydrogen production of the Iberian Peninsula with the major consumption and storage hubs in France and Germany, incorporating strategic storage sites along the route. HY-FEN will connect with other key projects, also part of the latest PCI list. Teréga leads the Hydrogen Southwest corridor project (HySoW), a transmission and storage infrastructure project of 650 km dedicated to hydrogen to decarbonise the major industrial and mobility hubs of the Occitanie and Nouvelle-Aquitaine regions, in the Southwest of France and along the border with Spain. HySoW will provide access to additional hydrogen volumes and give flexibility to the Corridor through storage capacities and will connect to HyFEN through the MidHY project developed by GRTgaz.

• In Germany, the project H2med will also interconnect with OGE’s H₂ercules project, which is part of the German hydrogen core grid consisting of about 9,000 km, connecting all the country’s major demand centres. H₂ercules is a 2,000km network of pipelines that will supply consumers mainly in southern and western Germany with hydrogen from various sources: produced in the country and imported, notably via H2med.

On the 22^nd of October Enagás, GRTgaz, REN, OGE and Teréga submitted their applications to the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) funding to carry out studies for their H2med Corridor’s both PCI. The applications are backed by letters of support from the governments of Portugal, Spain, France and Germany.

The Call for Interest has been presented today in Madrid through a dedicated webinar with representatives of the five European TSOs involved in the project. Project promoters from each participating company provided further context of the process, detailing its main objectives and the technical steps for participation.

Interested stakeholders are invited to take part in this process by submitting their applications via the H2Digital platform accessible through the H2medproject.com website until the 18^th of December. At the end of this Call for Interest, the results will be presented to the stakeholders.

The commitments made in the REPowerEU framework - which aims for 10 Mt of domestically produced green hydrogen and 10 Mt from imports - and the more recent Net Zero Industry Act underscore the hydrogen role as a crucial vector in the decarbonisation and reindustrialisation of the EU. It is now necessary to develop the associated infrastructures within the EU, which is the aim of CelZa and BarMar.

Their designation as PCI projects illustrates their significant contribution at the European level in terms of sustainability, market integration, security of supply, and competitiveness.

This Corridor linking Southern and Northwestern Europe results from joint efforts by four European countries, supported by private and public commitments. It reflects the strategic importance and privileged position of Southern Europe in terms of competitive hydrogen production.

The development of the Corridor will cover the entire hydrogen value chain, enhancing the economic competitiveness of all industrial users. Furthermore, it will enable carbon saving in all industrial functions, creating a viable development ecosystem for new industries and reindustrialisation. Ultimately, H2med will position clean hydrogen at the heart of the future energy system.