06 Apr European Hydrogen Backbone initiative

Source: https://gasforclimate2050.eu/

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to a push towards a more sustainable energy that will also be less dependent from third nations. The plan is to promote the use of hydrogen by reaching 15 million tonnes on top of the 5.6 million tonnes targeted by the EU’s hydrogen strategy. The EHB has accelerated its programme by 5 years in order to attain the REPowerEU targets in 2030.  The programme aims at a hydrogen network of 53000km by 2040. This network will not only build new pipelines (40%) but repurpose natural gas ones (60%). It also includes hydrogen storage facilities and port infrastructure operators that will service 28 European countries. The idea is to transport hydrogen at an average cost of €0.11 -0.21/kg of hydrogen. This means the WHB will become the most cost-effective option for large-scale long-distance hydrogen transport. The transport cost would be €0.17-0.32/kg of hydrogen per 1000 subsea pipeline transport.

Daniel Muthmann, Chairman of the EHB initiative said:” With EHB, the participating infrastructure companies took a European perspective for upscaling hydrogen from the start. Going beyond just regional clusters and anticipating a Europe–wide hydrogen transportation infrastructure based on the existing gas infrastructure early on creates confidence for future market participants, access to various competitive supply sources and security of demand for project developers. The current geopolitical situation underlines how valuable Europe’s gas infrastructure is. It is a real asset in the transformation”