The European Commission has approved a joint project of seven member states called IPCEI Hi2Infra, a third important project of common European interest aimed at supporting hydrogen infrastructure. France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Slovakia participated in drafting the project, whose goal is to reduce dependence on natural gas. Furthermore, the project should help achieve the goals of the European Green Deal and the REPowerEU plan.
More specifically, the Member States will provide a total of 6.9 billion euros of public funding, which is expected to subsequently open up 5.4 billion euros of private investments. Under the project’s auspices, 32 companies, which are operational in one or more member states, including small and medium-sized enterprises, will participate in 33 projects.
IPCEI Hi2Infra will include a wide part of the hydrogen value chain by supporting:
- the use of 3.2GW large-scale electrolysers for the production of renewable hydrogen
- installation of new and repurposed hydrogen transmission and distribution pipelines, approximately 2,700 kilometres long
- development of large hydrogen storage facilities with a capacity of at least 370GWh
- construction of a transfer terminal and associated port infrastructure for liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHC) to handle 6,000 tonnes of hydrogen per year
As stated on the European Commission’s website, the implementation of several projects is expected to take place in the coming years. Some large electrolyzers will be operational between 2026 and 2028 and pipelines between 2027 and 2029, depending on the geographic area.
The plan is to complete the project by 2029.
More:
- COMMISSION APPROVES UP TO 6.9 BILLION EUROS FOR THE THIRD IMPORTANT PROJECT OF COMMON EUROPEAN INTEREST IN THE HYDROGEN VALUE CHAIN
- GERMANY AND ALGERIA OPEN A NEW CHAPTER IN THE PRODUCTION OF GREEN HYDROGEN
- REMOVING BARRIERS FOR GREEN HYDROGEN DEPLOYMENT
These projects are very ambitious because they aim to develop an infrastructure that surpasses what the market offers at the moment. They will be the first blocks in an integrated and open hydrogen network, which will be available, as stated, under non-discriminatory conditions. The project will facilitate the bigger use of hydrogen supply from renewable sources in Europe, as well as the decarbonization of economic sectors that depend on hydrogen in order to reduce their carbon emissions.
Energy portal
