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What is the European hydrogen backbone?
The European hydrogen backbone (EHB), is a vision sponsored by 32 European energy infrastructure operators - including Teréga, promoter of the H2med project - to develop a hydrogen transport network across Europe. The initiative is aimed at encouraging market competition, guaranteeing security of supply and strengthening cross-border collaboration between European countries and their neighbours with the aim of supplying Europe with decarbonised, affordable energy.
Initially presented in 2020, the EHB, due to interconnect hydrogen networks from the Iberian peninsula to the north of Europe, updated its vision in 2022 to achieve the targets set in Europe’s “REPowerEU” plan. That plan provides for an extra 15 million tonnes (Mt) of renewable hydrogen on top of the 5.6 Mt provided within the framework of the “Fit for 55” legislative package.
Between now and 2030, it promises 5 pan-European hydrogen supply and importation corridors over a network of nearly 28,000 km of converted pipelines, linking industrial clusters, ports and hydrogen valleys to the regions where demand is high. Most notably, the initiative highlights the importance of a hydrogen infrastructure connecting France to the Iberian hydrogen production potential at competitive cost levels.
By 2040, the aim is to deploy a network of nearly 53,000 km of pipelines, connecting 28 European countries. That network will comprise 60% converted pipelines and 40% new dedicated pipelines, with total investment estimated at between 80 and 143 billion euros.
Transporting hydrogen over 1,000 km of the onshore EHB would cost an average of €0.11 to €0.21 per kg of H2, making the Backbone the most cost-effective option for the large-scale, long-distance transport of this energy source.
It therefore fits perfectly into the ambition for Europe to become carbon neutral, an ambition shared by Teréga.
