Ribera celebrates the "progress" of the H2med hydroduct, which receives more European funds.

Brussels, June 24 (EFE).- The Vice President of the European Commission for the Clean Transition, Teresa Ribera, welcomed the progress made on the H2med hydroduct project after meeting today with the energy transmission network managers involved in this green infrastructure that will connect Portugal, Spain, France, and Germany.

"It's been great to learn about the progress made on this important European hydrogen corridor, a key step for our energy resilience, clean transition, and industrial competitiveness. It's encouraging to see companies collaborating to make our energy union a reality," Ribera posted on the Bluesky network.

The Vice President of the European Commission met in Brussels with the CEOs of the consortium for this European corridor, which includes the Spanish company Enagás, the French companies NaTran and Teréga, the German company OGE, and the Portuguese company REN.

Decarbonization of Europe

In a joint statement, the companies indicated that they have conveyed to Ribera "the progress made in the development of this infrastructure, which will be key to meeting the European Union's (EU) decarbonization goals and will cover 10% of European hydrogen consumption starting in 2030."

They also stressed "the need to maintain support for hydrogen and to provide visibility, as soon as possible, to the regulatory framework in this area so that investment decisions can be made in a timely manner."

They also announced the signing of the H2med grant agreement for the Projects of Common Interest (PCI) of BarMar (Barcelona-Marseille) and CelZa (Celorico da Beira-Zamora), which was announced last January by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) and which the business leaders described as "a new milestone in the project's progress."

Technical and environmental studies

"This will allow the consortium to receive €28.3 million to finance engineering studies for the BarMar project, including marine and environmental reconnaissance campaigns, and €7.2 million for the basic and detailed engineering phases of the pipeline and the associated compression station at CelZa," they stated.

The European funding, which represents 100% of the Connecting Europe Facility funds requested and 50% of the investment in the current phase of the project, will allow progress on basic and detailed engineering of the infrastructure, as well as environmental impact studies and permitting, they indicated.

"The European funds awarded for H2med-related projects represent 39% of the total funding approved by CINEA for hydrogen projects."

European green hydrogen value chain

This document represents a "milestone" that "marks a new stage in the development and implementation of the project, reinforced by the creation of the H2med Alliance last December, whose objective is to incorporate European partners to develop a fully integrated value chain along the hydrogen corridor," they added.

The H2med is scheduled to enter operation in 2030 and transport up to two million tons of green hydrogen from Portugal and Spain to the rest of Europe. EFEverde

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