The Spanish TSO Enagás, the French TSOs GRTgaz and Teréga and the Portuguese TSO REN have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formalise their commitment to collaborate on a coordinated basis on the joint development of H2MED, following the mandate of the Governments of the three countries given at the Euromed Summit last December the 9th. The objective of this partnership is to make the infrastructure available as of 2030.
On 20th of October 2022, the President of the Government of Spain, the President of the French Republic and the Prime Minister of Portugal decided to accelerate the development of energy interconnections and to create a green energy corridor connecting Portugal, Spain and France with the EU energy network. They also agreed on the conclusion of a hydrogen interconnection between Portugal and Spain (Celorico-Zamora) as well as the development of a maritime pipeline connecting Spain and France (Barcelona-Marseille) in order to transport renewable hydrogen from the Iberian Peninsula to Central Europe. The three leaders ratified this commitment in the Euromed Summit last 9th of December, with the support of the President of the European Commision Ursula von der Leyen.
The four Transmission System Operators (TSOs) welcomed this decision very favourably. H2MED is a clear example of cooperation and multilateralism between neighbouring countries with a common aim: the decarbonisation of Europe. They have been cooperating since the 20th October to provide technical advice to their respective governments related to the development of H2MED.
Enagás, GRTgaz, Teréga and REN will also jointly submit on Thursday 15th of December 2022 these projects as candidates to the Project of Common Interest under the new Trans-European Network for Energy (TEN-E) Regulation (EU/2022/869).
The development of H2MED is the first pillar of the European Hydrogen Backbone aiming at accelerating the decarbonisation of Europe, by creating the needed hydrogen infrastructure to enable the development of a competitive, liquid and pan-European hydrogen market. H2MED will accelerate the deployment of hydrogen in Europe and connect the Iberian Peninsula to France and to the Northern part of Europe.
Among the benefits of this project are the promotion of industrial development, with a high level of innovation, the reduction of emissions and the development of renewable energies, as well as the creation of employment and the promotion of a just transition.
H2MED will have a capacity to transport up to 2 million tonnes per year (MTPA) of renewable hydrogen, which represents 10% of the forecast consumption in Europe in 2030, according to REPowerEU.
