The H2MED project, destined to transport hydrogen between Portugal, Spain and France has been added to the list of Projects of Common Interest (PCI). This step formalises the strategic role of this gigantic pipeline.
On 28 November, the European Commission selected the H2med project to add it on the list of PCI. These are not IPCEI, but Projects of Common Interest (PCIs). These are projects with an infrastructure dimension (transport, storage, etc.) funded by Europe and not by the Member States.
This is only the first step, as the European Council and Parliament will have two months to approve the list at the beginning of 2024. In total, the Commission has selected 166 cross-border energy projects.
The full list is available here.
H2MED: An emblematic project
An emblematic project, at the heart of the European Hydrogen Backbone (EHB), the H2MED project aims to facilitate Europe’s decarbonisation by 2050. Two million tonnes of renewable hydrogen could be transported through the pipeline every year. This is equivalent to 10% of Europe’s consumption by 2030, according to the REPowerEU plan.
The project was born in October 2022, when leaders from Portugal, Spain and France decided to develop energy interconnections in south-western Europe and create a green energy corridor linking the three countries to the rest of the European Union energy network. They agreed to create a hydrogen interconnection between Portugal and Spain (Celorico de Beira-Zamora or “CelZa”) and to develop a underwater pipeline linking Spain and France (Barcelona-Marseille or “BarMar”). The three countries ratified this commitment at the Euromed summit held on 9 December of the same year. They were supported in this process by Ursula Von Der Leyen, President of the European Commission.
And in January 2023, Germany decided to lend its support and join this hydrogen corridor initiative.
Europe is also backing internal projects linked to H2MED
The project is supported by Enagás, GRTgaz, REN, Teréga and, more recently, the German TSO* OGE. The five players met in Berlin on 18 October to underline the key role of the H2MED project in achieving the objectives of the REPowerEU plan and to integrate OGE into the group. It was they who made it possible to finalise the PCI application.
The players involved in the project are delighted with the delegated act proposed by the European Commission. It has indeed selected the BarMar and CelZa components of the H2MED project. The Commission has also selected a number of internal infrastructures in Portugal, Spain, France and Germany**. All these projects are essential to the development of the H2MED corridor as a whole.
*Transmission System Operator
**such as the MosaHYc and RhYn joint projects with Germany
Article written by Laurent Meillaud and translated by Logan King
