On the 7th of November, the H2med promoters launched a Call for Interest (CFI) for a transnational initiative to interconnect the hydrogen networks from the Iberian Peninsula to North-Western Europe involving Portugal, Spain, France and Germany.
The Call for Interest aimed to identify the needs of all the regions along the H2med Corridor, particularly the national hydrogen backbones developed by the 5 project promoters by the early 2030s. It also aims to assess the needs of future infrastructure users across the entire hydrogen value chain. The results will help optimise infrastructure design and establish operational specifications.
Today, the H2med promoters hosted an online webinar to present the results of this H2med Call for Interest and shared their analysis of the main trends and figures. This presentation follows the announcement of the CEF results, which were announced in the last week of January. The promoters of the projects are invited to sign a grant agreement with CINEA for both H2med projects: CelZa and BarMar.
Strong outcomes from the Call for Interest
- Nearly 170 companies responded with over 500 reported projects, demonstrating a strong interest in the proposed infrastructure and confirming H2med’s role in achieving the decarbonisation and reindustrialisation objectives of European stakeholders. These results show the importance of the H2med project in line with the REPowerEU framework – which aims for 10 Mt of domestically produced renewable and fossil-free hydrogen and 10 Mt from imports – and the recent Net Zero Industry Act, both underscoring hydrogen’s crucial role in the EU’s decarbonisation and reindustrialisation efforts.
- The Iberian Peninsula demonstrates a strong export potential as of 2030 (0.4 Mt/year for Portugal and 1.22 Mt/year for Spain), reaching full BarMar capacity as of 2032. In Spain, these results also confirm the potential revealed in Enagás’ 2023 market test. According to the results, volume expected in Spain in 2035 is 4.6 Mt total production and 2.6 Mt production for Spanish consumption. This call to the market also reveals an interest of the Northern African countries to transit their hydrogen production into Europe from 2040 especially.
- In France, the CFI shows significant volumes with both strong market consumption and production trends. Consumption could reach nearly 0.9 Mt/year by 2050, driven primarily by the chemical industry and e-fuels production for the mobility sector. This shows the key role of hydrogen in the industry transition and competitiveness enhancement. The figures on consumption and production reflect the data collected along the H2med corridor, suggesting that the full potential of production and consumption in France might be higher. Part of French national production is expected to be exported through HY-FEN towards Germany.
- West German consumption projects focussing on supply from H2med will take up half of H2med's capacity by 2035. The H2med corridor is making a significant contribution to meet this demand, expected to reach 17 to 21 Mt/year by 2040 according to the German Ministry of Economics and Climate affairs. The figures collected by OGE reflect only part of the global German consumption, as primarily OGE’s potential hydrogen customer base has participated in the CFI. According to the German-wide survey performed in 2024 (“WEB”), about a third of the total German offtake can be allocated to OGE’s potential hydrogen customer base. Thus, the feedback from this part of the German market is encouraging regarding the role of hydrogen in the future decarbonised economy.
Next steps and challenges
- Extend the H2med Alliance created last December in Madrid by the H2med promoters (REN, Enagás, Teréga, NaTran, OGE), German and Spanish government representatives, and private companies along the whole value chain supporting the initiative. This alliance will play a crucial commercial and advocacy role, ensuring continued support for the corridor through regular meetings.
- Address challenges linked to the necessity of aligning the timeline of the Hydrogen & Decarbonised Gas Market Package transposition across the involved member states. This process will help de-risking infrastructure projects and facilitate industrial commitments.
- Develop and animate the match-making platform to allow registration of new projects, to foster market developments and help build commercial relationships for future collaborations.
All information relating to the webinar, the presentation of the results and the call for interest are available on the H2med website.
