The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, inaugurated the Third Enagás Hydrogen Day, a benchmark event in Europe that brings together representatives from the entire European hydrogen value chain, with leading institutions, companies and experts in the field of renewable hydrogen coming together.
At the opening ceremony, Pedro Sánchez described Spain as “a global leader in green hydrogen” and stressed that this clean energy vector “will not only help achieve climate neutrality, but will also help us with our energy sovereignty.” Along these lines, he indicated that “we are working with our European partners to make H2med a reality as soon as possible, and with an Iberian vision alongside Portugal.”
The President of the Government also highlighted in his speech that “green hydrogen will help us to promote reindustrialisation with territorial cohesion for our country” and explained that, “according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Spain accounts for 20% of the green hydrogen production projects that are being announced in the world, despite representing 1.3% of the world’s GDP.” He also announced that “by 2030, we will be producing 20% of all green hydrogen in the EU.”
Image of the inauguration. From left to right: Enagás CEO, Arturo Gonzalo; the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez; Enagás Chairman, Antonio Llardén; and the Vice President and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Sara Aagesen.
At the opening ceremony, Pedro Sánchez highlighted that “this forum is a good example of Enagás’ efforts to develop a technology that is essential for the future of our country and our planet.”
Teresa Ribera, the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, highlighted in a video intervention from Brussels that “H2med has a strategic importance to connect the European hydrogen networks as a key part of the European Hydrogen Backbone” and noted that this corridor “will contribute to creating a cohesive and efficient hydrogen ecosystem across the entire continent that connects producers and consumers.” She added that “green hydrogen is more than just a clean energy source: it is key to the European strategy for energy autonomy and competitiveness.”
The event was also attended by the Third Vice-President of the Government of Spain and Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Sara Aagesen, and will be closed by the Chair of the CNMC, Cani Fernández.
In his welcome speech, Enagás President Antonio Llardén stated that “in order to create a hydrogen market, the role of infrastructure is vital”, and added that “a European market is not possible without infrastructure that connects production and demand centres”.
During his presentation, Enagás CEO Arturo Gonzalo stressed that “hydrogen is a renewable and indigenous resource that is essential for Europe to strengthen its strategic autonomy through the energy transition”, which represents “a common project as Europeans and also a national project” and that it is “the perfect meeting point between the EU’s industrial agenda and green agenda”.
The PCI progress as planned
Arturo Gonzalo has announced that “the European Projects of Common Interest (PCI) for hydrogen infrastructure proposed by Enagás are progressing according to the planned schedule.”
The CEO of Enagás has highlighted that H2med – a transnational project to connect the hydrogen networks of the Iberian Peninsula with those of France, Germany and northwestern Europe, which includes the construction of a land section that will link Portugal and Spain (CelZa) and an underwater hydroduct between Barcelona and Marseille (BarMar) – “is consolidating itself as the most advanced European hydrogen corridor in Europe following the Call For Interest carried out by operators from Spain, Portugal, France and Germany.”
This market test was “a success in terms of participation with the support of the entire European value chain, with 528 projects presented by 168 companies from all over Europe”, stressed Arturo Gonzalo, who added that the first results, put forward on the Third Enagás Hydrogen Day, “support the European demand for green hydrogen and consolidate Spain as a great hub from Europe”.
The largest public participation plan in Spain
Regarding the Spanish Hydrogen Backbone, the CEO of Enagás has pointed out that in 2025 and 2026, “Enagás will deploy the largest Public Participation Plan (PPP) of its kind ever carried out in Spain” in collaboration with the Government of Spain, Autonomous Communities and local entities, to develop an infrastructure of approximately 2,600 km of mapping and with more than 1,000 interested parties.
The Public Participation Plan has a dual objective: to facilitate the administrative process for making the final investment decision in November 2027 and to ensure transparent dialogue and involvement of the territories and interest groups.
Arturo Gonzalo also confirmed during his speech that four new sections of the Spanish Hydrogen Backbone have been submitted to the second call for PCI: the Guitiriz-Zamora hydroduct, the Huelva-Algeciras pipeline, the Northern Meseta transversal pipeline and the Southern Meseta transversal pipeline, connecting with Madrid.
This proposal is based on the results of the Call For Interest which were presented at the Second Hydrogen Day last year and which identified areas in Spain with great production capacity and demand for hydrogen.
Unprecedented advances in 2024 and milestones for 2025
In 2024, key milestones have been reached in the hydrogen journey which, in the words of Enagás’ CEO, “is advancing at an unprecedented speed.”
These include the publication in April of the final list of European Projects of Common Interest, which included H2med and the Spanish Hydrogen Backbone, the announcement of the results of the first auction of the European Hydrogen Bank - with the subsequent opening in December of a second auction with 50% more funds - and the approval in June of the Hydrogen and Decarbonised Gas Directive and Regulation.
These advances, decisive for articulating the European hydrogen network, confirm the potential of the Iberian Peninsula to become the great European hub.
At the European level, 17 Member States have already published their final energy and climate plans to date – such as the PNIEC in Spain – with total electrolysis capacity targets of around 52 GW. These plans include a total of 48 projects recognised as PCIs, which involve 21,000 kilometres of hydroducts and represent an estimated aggregate investment of 60 billion euros.
For 2025, important milestones are also expected in the hydrogen schedule, such as new advances in the technological and engineering processes of the Spanish Hydrogen Backbone, the aforementioned launch and deployment of its Public Participation Plan, the closing of the 2nd auction of the European Hydrogen Bank, the award of the BarMar geophysical underwater inspection bid and the constitution of the BarMar Special Purpose Entity (SPV).
The benchmark hydrogen event
The Third Enagás Hydrogen Day brings together the main active drivers of the hydrogen value chain in Europe and has become the benchmark event in this field.
Following the institutional opening by the President of the Government and the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission and the presentation “Advances in hydrogen infrastructure in Spain and Europe”, made by the CEO of Enagás, several roundtable discussions and presentations were held on the Third Enagás Hydrogen Day.
Arturo Gonzalo moderated the round table “Building a European hydrogen network together”, in which, in addition to the CEO of Enagás, the CEOs of the Italian operator Snam, Stefano Venier; the Belgian operator Fluxys, Pascal De Buck; the Portuguese operator REN, Rodrigo Costa; the French operator Teréga, Dominique Mockly; and the Greek operator DESFA, Maria Rita Galli, participated.
Open Grid Europe CEO Thomas Hüwener and GRTgaz Deputy CEO Pierre Duvieusart gave the technical presentation “H2med, first Call For Interest of a pan-European hydrogen corridor”, followed by the round table “Decarbonisation of the industry with green hydrogen and other molecules”, moderated by the President of the Spanish Hydrogen Association, Javier Brey, and with the participation of the CEO of Moeve, Maarten Wetselaar; the General Manager of BASF Spain, Carles Navarro; the CEO of Thyssenkrupp Uhde, Nadja Håkansson; the Vice-President and Electrolysers General Manager at Accelera by Cummins, Andreas Lippert; and the President of Sedigas, Joan Batalla.
This was followed by a round table discussion titled “The challenges facing Europe in decarbonisation: the role of green hydrogen”, with the participation of the CEO of Hydrogen Europe, Jorgo Chatzimarkakis; the Deputy Head of the CINEA Innovation Fund Unit of the European Commission, María Alfayate; the International Relations Officer of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy, Carlos Álvarez, and the Director of the European Network of Hydrogen Network Operators (ENNOH), Abel Enríquez. The debate was moderated by Luis Parada, EU Energy Policy & Regulation Director at Enagás.
Susana de Pablo, Engineering, Technology and Digitalisation General Manager at Enagás, gave the following presentation, titled “Technology and innovation as facilitators: the Hydrogen Technology Observatory”.
The intervention was followed by the round table discussion “Germany hydrogen imports: What contribution can pipeline imports make in the 2030s?”, in which the Head of Division of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action for Germany, Gunther Grathwohl; the Managing Director of FNB Gas, Barbara Fischer; the Executive Director of Trading at EnBW, Matthias Obert; the Programme Lead for Hydrogen from Agora Industry, Matthias Deutsch; and the President and CEO of the German Gas and Hydrogen Association for Industry, Timm Kehler, participated. Nora Vogt, Deputy Head of Division at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, moderated the panel discussion.
In the afternoon, following this debate, the Chairman of the Iberian Gas Market (Mibgas), Raúl Yunta, gave a talk on “Iberian Hydrogen Price Index”. Later, Bip Group’s energy and natural resources partner, Claudio Escarpenter, presented the report “The renewable hydrogen potential of the Iberian Corridor”, carried out by Bip for the European Commission; and the Energy Transition General Manager at Enagás, Natalia Latorre, and the Hydrogen Director at Enagás, Jesús Gil, gave a talk titled “Public participation in the deployment of the backbone”.
Following these presentations, the round table “Hydrogen, a key vector for sustainable mobility” was held, moderated by the General Secretary at Gasnam-Neutral Transport, Eugenia Sillero, and with the participation of the Executive Director of Navantia, Javier Herrador; the President of the Alliance for the Sustainability of Air Transport, Margarita de Gregorio; the President and CEO of Toyota Spain, Miguel Carsi; and the CEO of Disfrimur, Juan Jesús Sánchez.
The President of the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC), Cani Fernández, brought the event to an institutional close.
