Enagás today launched the Public Participation Concept Plan (PCPP) for the Spanish hydrogen backbone network at the headquarters of the National Hydrogen Centre (CNH2) in Puertollano, Ciudad Real, at a ceremony attended by the President of Castile-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page; the Under-secretary for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Miguel González Suela; the Government Representative in Castile-La Mancha, Milagros Tolón; the Regional Minister for Sustainable Development of the Regional Government of Castile-La Mancha, Mercedes Gómezand the Mayor of Puertollano, Miguel Ángel Ruiz.
Enagás CEO Arturo Gonzalo presented what will be the largest public participation plan of its kind in Spain, which will encompass 13 autonomous communities and more than 550 municipalities, at an event that was also attended by the Director General of CNH2, Emilio Nieto.
The President of Castile-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, stressed that "this project is top priority" and added during the closing ceremony that "Spain is a standard bearer, trailblazer and inducer of the renewable hydrogen network, and Europe is on the same page".
Arturo Gonzalo, CEO of Enagás, during the presentation.
The Under-secretary for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Miguel González Suela, pointed out that "having this hydrogen infrastructure is important for decarbonising sectors that cannot be electrified, for existing industries and for attracting new industries"
The Government Representative in Castile-La Mancha, Milagros Tolón, has pointed out that the project, which now begins its public participation phase, reinforces the strategic role of Puertollano and Castile-La Mancha in the energy transition and the new green economy: "Puertollano is today an international node in the production and distribution of green hydrogen and Castile-La Mancha is already a leading region in the sustainable reindustrialisation that the Government of Spain is leading".
For her part, the Regional Minister for Sustainable Development, Mercedes Gómez, stressed that the new green hydrogen backbone network that includes Castile-La Mancha and Puertollano "is a major historical milestone for the region's industrial sector because it will contribute to decarbonisation, also fostering the establishment of companies that will collaborate in implementing a green economy in the region that will facilitate job creation".
Enagás' CEO, Arturo Gonzalo, stressed that "Enagás' Conceptual Public Participation Plan for the development of the Spanish hydrogen network is a key participatory process to give citizens and institutions a voice in a national project that will strengthen economic and social development in the regions, fostering a more autonomous, competitive and cleaner energy framework".
The PCPP will bring together the contributions of autonomous communities, city councils, as well as more than 50 public administration agencies and 380 organisations and associations, and of all citizens interested in participating. The deployment of the PCPP in the 13 autonomous communities through which it will pass and the corresponding sections of the network is expected to last 18 months, at the end of which a final report on the results of the process will be drawn up.
The aim is to share information on the future hydrogen network with all stakeholders, resolve queries, explain the need for the project, foster the active participation of communities in the process, mitigate impacts on the ground and guarantee the most appropriate actions from a social and environmental point of view, from an early stage.
Castile-La Mancha as a starting point
Castile-La Mancha is the first autonomous community in which Enagás will hold participatory workshops and meetings with citizens and administrations, starting next week and during the months of April, May and June, in 13 municipalities in the province of Ciudad Real: Guadalmez, Chillón, Almadén, Saceruela, Cabezarados, Abenójar, Villamayor de Calatrava, Almodóvar del Campo, Argamasilla de Calatrava, Brazatortas, Alamillo, Almadenejos and Puertollano. In the latter, the conference will take place on 30 May and 2 June.
After Castile-La Mancha, the next autonomous communities will be Extremadura and Andalusia and, consecutively and staggered over a total of 18 months, the PCPP will pass through the autonomous communities of Cantabria, Castile and León, the Principality of Asturias, the Basque Country, Navarre, La Rioja, Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia and Murcia. The regional roll-out of the Plan will be paced with the development of the engineering studies, with the aim of meeting the project's timetable and maximising public participation.
Enagás progresses with its PCIs as planned
As a Project of Common Interest (PCI) of the European Commission - as set forth in the European Union Regulation No 347/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2013-, the Enagás PCPP will make available to all stakeholders the fundamental characteristics and information on the project of the future Spanish hydrogen network. The company is progressing on schedule with the development of Spain's future hydrogen backbone and the H2med corridor.
In January, the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) awarded 100% of the funds requested by Enagás for the Connecting Europe Facility for the studies and engineering phase of these projects. The future network, including associated storage, has received €40.2 million, and H2med, which includes the interconnections with France (BarMar) and Portugal (CelZa), has obtained €35.5 million.
2,600 kilometres of Spanish hydrogen network
The project for the first axes of Spain's internal hydrogen network consists of the development of some 2,600 kilometres of underground pipelines, new or reconverted, grouped into 15 sections and 5 axes: the Vía de la Plata Axis (around 875 kilometres and four sections), the Cantabrian Coast Axis (around 440 kilometres and three sections), the Levante Axis (around 505 kilometres and four sections), the Castile-La Mancha Transversal Axis (around 235 kilometres and one section) and the Ebro Valley Axis (around 535 kilometres and three sections).
More than 80% of the new network will run along the existing gas infrastructure. 21% of the network will involve re-using existing pipelines. In construction, existing infrastructure corridors will be utilised to avoid affecting natural and protected areas and watercourses, as well as urban centres and areas of high population density.
Preliminary studies for the project envisage about 110 newly constructed valve positions, which will be located at a distance of about 20 to 30 km along the same line as the pipeline route. They will be equipped with remote actuation and control systems, as well as permanent monitoring to ensure safe operation. These preliminary studies estimate the need for three compressor stations located in Coreses (Zamora), Tivissa (Tarragona) and Villar de Arnedo (La Rioja).
In the technical field, the company has launched the conceptual engineering of the hydrogen backbone network in Spain and has already awarded the contracts for the basic engineering of the compressor stations and hydroproducts. It has also carried out a pre-selection of piping and compressor suppliers, and has strengthened the engineering team that will carry out the work.
Moreover, in November, Enagás submitted four new sections of the Trunk Network to the second call for European Projects of Common Interest (PCI). Its development, which includes an additional 1,480 kilometres of route and is planned from 2030 onwards, will enable all the autonomous communities of the Iberian Peninsula to be connected to the hydrogen network.
Enagás is the provisional Hydrogen Transmission Network Operator (HTNO), designated by Royal Decree-Law 8/2023. Through its subsidiary Enagás Infraestructuras de Hidrógeno, it was authorised by a resolution of the Council of Ministers on 30 July 2024 to develop the first axes of the hydrogen network, selected as a Project of Common European Interest (PCI 9.1.3. Spain's inland hydrogen infrastructure). The initial phase of this PCI includes the implementation of a Conceptual Public Participation Plan, approved by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge in January this year.
In conjunction with this process, Enagás has launched the website https://www.infraestructurasdehidrogeno.es/ with all the information available on the public participation plan.
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