The H2 Backbone hydrogen project, which forms part of the larger SoutH2 Corridor linking North Africa to Europe, has been awarded a €24 million (~$27.4 million) grant from the European Climate, Environment and Infrastructure Executive Agency (CINEA).
The funding, part of the Connecting Europe Facility for Energy initiative, will support engineering and environmental studies to advance the development of hydrogen transmission infrastructure in Italy.
The announcement was made at the recently concluded 11th Energy Infrastructure Forum (EIF) in Copenhagen, organized by the EU Commission in partnership with the Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities.
The H2 Backbone hydrogen project, led by SNAM Gas, will comprise a transport network of approximately 1,900 km, of which roughly 60% will be converted from existing gas infrastructure.
It also includes several hundred MW of compression stations and is targeted to come online by 2030.
When completed, it will be linked to the SoutH2 Corridor hydrogen pipeline system, which targets an import capacity of 4 million tons per annum from North Africa to southern Germany.
The project is being developed by transmission system operators Snam (Italy), Bayernets (Germany), and Trans Austria Gas Pipeline and Gas Connect Austria (Austria).
The project is classified as a “project of common interest” among institutions and stakeholders in the European energy market.
Since the fallout with Russia, EU countries have been having high-level discussions on the challenges of accelerating the deployment of Europe’s energy infrastructure to achieve its decarbonization targets.
EU countries eye abundant clean energy resources in North Africa, which the International Energy Agency (IEA) says hosts Africa’s largest energy market.
Countries like Mauritania, Morocco, and Egypt have significant green hydrogen potential that can benefit Europe.
There is even an ongoing massive 11.5 GW renewable energy project being developed between Morocco and the UK.
In January, the EU Commission proposed a total of 41 cross-border energy projects for potential €1.25 billion (~$1.43 billion) funding by member countries.
Meanwhile, only five out of these projects were selected and awarded grant certificates at the EIF conference, with the H2 Backbone project being top on the list.
“We at CINEA are proud to include all these projects in our portfolio as they are vital for advancing the implementation of the related Projects of Common Interest. They will directly contribute to enhancing Europe’s competitiveness, integrating energy markets and decarbonising our energy systems,” Paloma Aba Garrote, Director of the agency, stated.
