It is necessary to sift through many historical archives to find an alliance between Portugal, Spain, France and Germany. If the signatures of these four countries now look together, it is for nothing other than the energy shortage that the war between Russia and Ukraine has uncovered.
A weakness inherited from the past to which Europe is now looking for alternatives, and one is renewable hydrogen. “From both an economic and geopolitical perspective, Mediterranean green hydrogen can be positioned advantageously compared to other alternatives. Its development involves first integrating the resources of southern Europe, establishing south-north corridors so that countries with greater export capacity, such as Portugal, Spain or Italy, can supply European markets,” according to Gonzalo Escrivano, director of the Program. of Energy and Climate of the Elcano Royal Institute.
The first corridor in that direction is the one named H2Med. An international connection led by Spain and Portugal and planned in two sections. One will run between Celorico da Beira (Portugal) and Zamora; and another, BarMar, will connect Barcelona and Marseille through 445 kilometers of underwater pipeline, the first in the world of its kind.
The project has a first obvious challenge, an investment that amounts to 2,850 million euros. “Involving France was key to ensuring that the Gauls were going to allow the passage of green hydrogen to Central Europe, and it has been possible because they will also be allowed to inject their pink hydrogen (produced with nuclear energy),” say sources familiar with that negotiation. Even more successful has been adding Germany, the country that has the greatest demand, to the agreement. That the four states are involved is the perfect “excuse” for Europe to have classified it as a project of common interest, which can be financed up to 50% with European funds, in addition to contributions from the countries and future projects. users.
H2Med is the most emblematic and challenging of the extensive network of European corridors that should be up and running by 2030. By that year, the underwater tube is expected to be built and have the capacity to export two million tons of green hydrogen, the 10% of the total demand in Europe. For this to be possible, Spain must build its internal backbone network with an investment of 4.5 billion. Enagás, the gas network management company and also the future hydrogen network manager, has identified private interest in having hydrogen production of around 2.5 million tons per year by 2030 and internal consumption of one million tons, when 600,000 tons of gray hydrogen (produced with gas) are now consumed. “Hydrogen already has projects, but until innovation lowers the cost of producing it, these projects will take time to materialize,” acknowledges Christina Rentell, energy specialist for Iberia at the consulting firm Aurora Energy Research.
