German gas grid operator joins EU hydrogen pipeline project H2Med
Handelsblatt / Tagesspiegel Background
One of Germany's major gas grid operators has joined the pipeline project "H2Med", which is set to transport hydrogen from the Iberian Peninsula towards Germany, business daily Handelsblatt reports. Open Grid Europe (OGE) signed a memorandum of understanding with the existing consortium partners Enagás (Spain), REN (Portugal), GRTgaz and Teréga (both France). The project "connects the most efficient regions for hydrogen production with the regions where it is most needed," OGE's chief financial officer Frank Reiners said, Tagesspiegel Background reports. OGE would contribute its domestic hydrogen network to the joint project, the operator said.
As many existing gas pipelines as possible should be upgraded and integrated into the project in order to shorten approval and construction times, the operators said. The H2Med pipeline is one of five corridors planned under the European Hydrogen Backbone initiative, and is set to connect Portugal and Spain with France. Germany had said earlier it wanted to join the project.
Green hydrogen is set to play an important role in decarbonising Germany's heavy industry, but the country will have to import a large share of the hydrogen it plans to use in the future. Production of green hydrogen in the country will not be financially viable in the long term, a report by the European Commission found. France and Spain would become Europe's most important hydrogen producers because they have more favourable conditions for renewable energy generation, according to the authors.
