European gas infrastructure companies pledge to establish hydrogen supply corridors by 2030
The EHB initiative has identified five hydrogen supply corridors that can bridge regional differences in supply and demand and deliver access to abundant, low-cost hydrogen supply in 2030.
The first European Hydrogen Backbone Day was held in Brussels on June 7th, 2022, where stakeholders from all over the hydrogen value chain, together with National and European policymakers, discussed the future of European hydrogen infrastructure.
The CEOs of all 31 initiative members presented a pledge to the European Commission to establish hydrogen supply corridors by 2030 as enablers for hydrogen market creation.
The EHB initiative presented its two most recent publications; the updated EHB-vision infrastructure maps and their findings on the five envisaged corridors that could be emerging in Europe, which would connect hydrogen supply with demand as decarbonising local industry.
In the pledge delivered to Ms Rosalinde van der Vlies, Director-General Research and Innovation of the European Commission, the EHB initiative and its members pledge that they are ready to deliver the hydrogen infrastructure needed to achieve Europe’s 2030 hydrogen targets. In order to support this, a clear mandate and suitable policy and regulatory support is asked from the European Commission.
These corridors connect local hydrogen supply and demand in different parts of Europe and create connections across European regions and with neighbouring regions with export potential, to meet Europe’s hydrogen import needs. These import connections envisioned by the EHB are consistent with the three major import/hydrogen corridors identified by the Commission in the REPowerEU package.
The following concrete actions are needed to ensure the development of each corridor by 2030:
- Fostering the development of new and repurposed hydrogen infrastructure, e.g., by unbundling rules facilitating efficient use of expertise & services from TSOs and by allowing different vertical unbundling models across EU in analogy to natural gas
- Unlock financing to fast-track hydrogen infrastructure deployment by leveraging regional regulatory flexibility and other pragmatic financing solutions (including incentivising use of hydrogen on demand side)
