Italy commits to renewable hydrogen: millions in investments and key projects up to 2050
Dec 13, 2024
Innovative
Hydrogen is a crucial energy carrier in the fight against climate change and for boosting sustainable energy solutions. The Hydrogen Technology Observatory has been established to facilitate the exchange of technical knowledge along its value chain and to drive forward technological advancements that accelerate hydrogen deployment.
Promoted by Enagás, this observatory underscores the company’s commitment to technological innovation in the energy sector. It seeks to serve as an active forum for discussion among private, public, and academic stakeholders.
One of the key objectives is to highlight and disseminate ongoing technological advancements, thereby assisting major industry players in making informed decisions, implementing actions, and addressing future needs effectively.
At the launch of the Hydrogen Technology Observatory, the CEO of Enagás highlighted that “the technological viability of developing renewable hydrogen is well established”. However, he said that there are scaling challenges in areas such as the materials for hydrogen pipelines, instrumentation, compressors, storage in salt caverns, adapting existing networks, the design of dedicated networks, maintenance, measurement, and digitalisation.
“Hydrogen has been transported via pipelines since 1938”, he noted, “which proves the technology’s reliability. The current challenge lies in scaling it up effectively”.
“The technological feasibility of developing renewable hydrogen is well established”
Europe is well-positioned for the advancement of this energy carrier and is steadily increasing its ambitions regarding hydrogen. The REPowerEU plan anticipates the consumption of 20 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen by 2030, with half produced within Europe. The European Commission projects that by 2040, this figure could rise to between 35 and 40 million tonnes.
Moreover, the EU is progressing rapidly with the approval of the Directive on Hydrogen and Decarbonised Gas Markets, as well as including hydrogen projects in the list of Projects of Common Interest.
In Spain, significant progress is being made with the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC), and Enagás has been designated as the Provisional Operator of the Spanish Hydrogen Backbone Network.
According to Igor Pagazaurtundua, the Coordinator of the Observatory, its main objectives include monitoring the status of technologies, identifying future trends, and anticipating the sector’s technological evolution. It also aims to share best practices and innovations to facilitate implementation.
Among its primary objectives are monitoring the current state of technologies, identifying future trends, and anticipating the technological evolution of the sector.
Several national and European companies, institutions, and research and technology centres are already joining the Hydrogen Technology Observatory. This initiative aims to establish agreements and partnerships with key public and private stakeholders in the field.
In addition, the Observatory focuses on promoting R&D&I projects related to hydrogen and highlighting the progress made by European working groups in this area.
In 2024, the Hydrogen Technology Observatory has organised several events and technical workshops featuring national and international experts to help spread this knowledge. These efforts will continue with further meetings on hydrogen technological developments in the coming months.
Among the activities held is the conference titled “Technological Challenges of Hydrogen Infrastructures”, which took place at the French Embassy in Spain. It brought together institutions such as CDTI, CSIC-UPV, and the Hydrogen Research Federation (CNRS), alongside a technical workshop on hydrogen storage, which included participation from the company Storengy.