Political support for southern hydrogen corridor

2023-05-09 06:44:27

Austria, Germany and Italy sign joint letter of political support for southern hydrogen corridor

Vienna (OTS) – The energy ministries of Austria, Germany and Italy yesterday signed a joint letter of support for the development of a “southern hydrogen corridor” in the European Union. The associated infrastructure projects are thus supported in obtaining the status of a project of common interest (PCI). The transmission system operators (FNB) Snam in Italy, Trans Austria Gasleitung (TAG) and Gas Connect Austria (GCA) in Austria and bayernets in Germany welcome this important political step.

The southern hydrogen corridor “SoutH2-Corridor” is 3,300 km long and is being developed by four major European transmission system operators: Snam, TAG, GCA and bayernets. The corridor connects North Africa, Italy, Austria and Germany and will thus supply key European demand clusters with competitive renewable hydrogen from the southern Mediterranean.

SoutH2Corridor covers more than 40% of the REPowerEU import target

With a hydrogen import capacity of more than 4 million tons per year from North Africa, the corridor could meet 40% of the REPowerEU import target. The initiative focuses on the use of existing natural gas infrastructure that has been repurposed for transporting hydrogen, possibly including additional new construction. A high proportion of repurposed existing lines (more than 70%) allows for cost-effective transportation, while access to cheap renewable hydrogen production sites (wind and solar) in North Africa is beneficial for industries with hard-to-avoid emissions.

The development of the SouthH2 corridor, which is part of an interconnected and diversified European “hydrogen backbone”, will also make a significant contribution to security of supply. The SoutH2 Corridor, which is expected to be fully operational as early as 2030, consists of the following individual PCI project candidates:

“Italian H2 Backbone” by Snam Rete Gas
“H2 Readiness of the TAG pipeline system” by Trans Austria Gasleitung GmbH
“H2 Backbone WAG + Paint-West” by Gas Connect Austria GmbH
“HyPipe Bavaria – The Hydrogen Hub” von bayernets GmbH

In December 2022, each TSO submitted individual applications for projects of common interest (PCI) under the TEN-E Regulation to the EU Commission. The projects “H2 Backbone WAG + Penta West” by Gas Connect Austria and “H2 Readiness of the TAG pipeline system” by Trans Austria Gasleitung GmbH are strategically valuable investments in Austria’s energy future, which can be realized with the existing gas infrastructure can be implemented, but a lot of public support is still needed.

You can find continuously updated information about the initiative at www.south2corridor.net.