The European Commission has adopted the Delegated Act on Projects of Common Interest (PCI) which includes the H2Med corridor, the first axes of the associated Spanish Hydrogen Backbone Network and two underground hydrogen storage facilities. Their inclusion in the list of PCIs, which will be submitted to the Council and the European Parliament for approval in early 2024, represents an important step forward in the promotion of these projects.
The H2Med comprises a connection between Celourico da Beira in Portugal and Zamora (CelZa), and a maritime connection between Barcelona and Marseille (BarMar). With a planned combined investment of around 2.5 billion euros, CelZa will have a maximum capacity of 0.75 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen, a length of 248 kilometres and a 24.6 MW compressor station in Zamora, and BarMar will have a maximum capacity of two million tonnes, a length of 455 kilometres and a 140 MW compressor station in Barcelona.
H2Med was presented in Alicante at the Euromed summit on 9 December 2022 by the governments of Portugal, Spain and France, with the support of the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, and in January 2023 the support of Germany was added. Following this initial impulse, the TSOs of Portugal, Spain, France and Germany presented the project at an event in Berlin on 18 October, ratifying the support of the governments of these four countries and that of the European Commission, as well as that of the industry and the main players of the sector in Germany.
Progress on the Spanish Hydrogen Backbone
The first axes of the Spanish Hydrogen Backbone included as a PCI are the Vía de la Plata Axis with its connection to the Puertollano Hydrogen Valley -which add up to a planned length of approximately 1,250 km-, and the Axis that includes the Cantabrian Coast, Ebro Valley and Levante Axes -about 1,500 km in total-, as well as two underground hydrogen storage facilities in Cantabria and the Basque Country, located in new salt cavities, with a planned capacity of 335 and 240 GWh, respectively.
The Spanish Hydrogen Backbone Network projects, together with the storage facilities identified as necessary for its correct operation, involves an investment of around 4.6 billion euros.
Enagás is making progress in analysing the results after successfully completing the first phase of the non-binding Call For Interest process for the first axes of the Spanish Hydrogen Backbone on 17 November. With the data provided by the more than 200 companies - producers, consumers, marketers and other agents - that have submitted more than 600 projects, the company will be able to gauge the interest of the main players in the energy sector in the necessary development of renewable hydrogen transport infrastructures, as well as ammonia, oxygen and CO2.
The information provided in this Call for Interest will also make it possible to adjust the routes and to detect whether it is necessary to incorporate axes that were not initially included in the first axes presented. Enagás will announce the results of the Call for Interest at the 2nd Hydrogen Day, to be held on 31 January 2024.
The inclusion of the H2Med corridor, the Spanish Hydrogen Backbone and the two underground hydrogen storage facilities in the PCI list -once it passes through the European Parliament and Council- will help to make progress in fulfilling the RePowerEU Plan to achieve the European and Spanish goals of energy independence, industrial competitiveness and decarbonization.
