Enagás today launched the Public Participation Conceptual Plan (PPCP) for the Hydrogen Backbone Network in Navarre, during a meeting at the headquarters of the Government of Navarre between President María Chivite and Enagás CEO Arturo Gonzalo, which was attended by Mikel Irujo, Regional Minister for Industry and the Ecological and Digital Business Transition.
The institutional event, which was followed by a working meeting featuring important industrial players and companies in Navarre’s hydrogen value chain, outlined the details of the project, which will be vital for the sustainable economic development of the region.
Enagás CEO Arturo Gonzalo emphasised in his speech that “thanks to the Public Participation Conceptual Plan that Enagás is launching in Navarre today, municipalities, administrations and citizens will be active players in reaching this key milestone in the achievement of the 2030 Goal of Navarre’s Green Hydrogen Agenda”, adding that “the region is set to play an important role in the Hydrogen Backbone Network as a unifying infrastructure linking the points of production and consumption of green hydrogen, one which is key to furthering the decarbonisation of industry”.
The Backbone Network will run through 9 municipalities in Navarre
37 kilometres of pipelines forming part of the Haro-Zaragoza section of the Hydrogen Backbone Network will run through Navarre. This will turn the region into an enclave for the hydrogen market, with a potential aggregation node in Tudela, where future production and consumption projects will be clustered.
This infrastructure will contribute to the achievement of the 2030 Goal of Navarre’s Green Hydrogen Agenda, which envisages 150 MW of electrolysis by the above date and three hydrogen and fuel cell transport lines.
The PPCP, which will run until 30 January 2026, will deploy information points in nine municipalities in the region: Murchante, Buñuel, Ablitas, Cascante, Corella, Cortes, Fontellas, Ribaforada and Tudela. The Plan also provides for the holding of open days in three of these localities.
Participatory open days
Navarre is the recipient of the largest public participation plan of its kind in Spain. It will visit a total of 13 autonomous communities and more than 500 municipalities. Enagás launched the plan on 25 April.
The Spanish hydrogen backbone network’s PPCP will collect the inputs of the autonomous communities and the councils of the towns and cities through which it passes, the 50-plus government authorities, 380 organisations and associations and all the citizens interested in taking part. The Plan deployment is expected to take 18 months, and, once it has been completed, a final report on the results of the process will be drawn up.
The aim of the Plan is to share information on the future hydrogen network with all the stakeholders, resolve queries, explain the need for the project, foster the active participation of the communities in the process, mitigate any impacts on the ground, and guarantee the most appropriate social and environmental actions from an early stage.
The project for the first axes of the Spanish Hydrogen Backbone Network consists of the development of around 2,600 kilometres of hydroducts, grouped into 15 sections and 5 axes. The hydrogen economy will generate more than 32 billion euros of GDP in Spain and support some 81,000 jobs during the development of the Backbone Network.
All the available information on the PPCP can be viewed at https://www.infraestructurasdehidrogeno.es/
/
