Madrid, Jan. 29, 2025 (Lusa) - The CEO of Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN), Portugal's energy grids operator, said on Wednesday that the infrastructure for green hydrogen is "advancing a lot" in Europe, but there is still a need to guarantee demand and create a stable regulatory framework at European Union level.
Rodrigo Costa was speaking in Madrid at a day of debates on hydrogen organised by Enagás, Spain's energy transmission network operator and a partner of REN.
According to the REN CEO, green hydrogen - defined as produced from renewable sources of energy - is "an opportunity" for reindustrialisation, energy conversion and greater autonomy for the European Union, but a market for it must be guaranteed, by creating "new uses" to be sure that demand will grow.
"We're making a lot of progress in terms of infrastructure, but not enough in terms of creating critical mass," said Costa, who emphasised that in Portugal, for example, 70% of electricity generation comes from renewable sources, but that this is the result of 20 years of development and investment.
For the REN CEO, it is not possible today to wait another 20 years for the same development of the hydrogen market; he called for the conditions to be created to develop and create critical mass at EU level - descriding this is "very necessary" - namely with a stable and secure regulatory framework, the definition of a strategy and guaranteed funding for new projects and innovation.
Costa emphasised that all these issues have to be defined at the level of the EU, which has to take on "a crucial role" - since it makes no sense to have different national regulatory frameworks or the clashing timetables that exist in most member states.
The REN boss was speaking at a round table with the CEOs of other European energy transmission network operators, all of whom stressed the need for a stable and clear regulatory framework to enable the full development of hydrogen in Europe.
Participants emphasised that 2024 was a key year for the development of new infrastructure for green hydrogen in Europe, including for the H2MED gas pipeline project agreed between Portugal, Spain and France.
The CEO of Enagás, Arturo Gonzalo, said that last year the EU, in various documents and classifications of projects for funding, "confirmed its commitment to hydrogen" and that 2024 will be remembered as "a before and after" in this regard.
With regard to H2MED, he said that it is being consolidated "as the most advanced pan-European hydrogen corridor in Europe".
Last year, H2MED was included in the EU's list of projects of common interest.
Earlier, at the end of 2022, REN and its Spanish counterpart, Enagás, and French counterparts GRTgaz and Teréga, signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on the development of H2MED, "following the mandate of the governments of the three countries."
The stated aim of the partnership is to make the infrastructure available from 2030.
The project includes a 248-kilometre land link between Celorico da Beira in Portugal and Zamora in Spain (known as CelZa) and another, 455km underwater link between Barcelona and Marseille (BarMar).
EU funding for H2MED could amount to 50% of the estimated cost of the project. Portugal, Spain and France expect €350 million to be spent on CelZa and €2.5 billion on BarMar, according to a document released at the end of 2022.
MP/ARO // ARO.
Lusa
