In Spain, green hydrogen has already mobilised over 3 billion euros in aid from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. Of this total, 520 million euros have been earmarked for five hydrogen-intensive projects, while a further 1.2 billion euros have been allocated to the development of hydrogen valleys, which are regarded as a key part of energy and territorial planning.
These figures, provided by Sara Aagesen, the Third Vice-President of the Spanish Government and Minister for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, during the 4th Enagás Hydrogen Day, reflect a turning point for this energy carrier, which has entered its large-scale implementation phase backed by a solid amount of investment.
Moreover, green hydrogen is also progressing in terms of regulation and infrastructures, as was made clear during the event, a benchmark for the sector that brings together all the main stakeholders: representatives of the Spanish Government, the European Commission, TSOs (Transmission System Operators), regulators and large industrial consumers.
The message within the industry is unanimous: the hydrogen economy is no longer an ambition, it’s a market that’s taking off. The above was confirmed during each of the speeches at the event organised by Enagás, which was attended, in addition to Sara Aagesen, by Antonio Llardén and Arturo Gonzalo, the company’s Chairman and CEO, Teresa Ribera, the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for a Clean, Fair and Competitive Transition, and Cani Fernández, the President of the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC).
Sara Aagesen’s institutional opening speech served to emphasise that energy autonomy is now a geopolitical priority. The transition towards a decarbonised system requires a legal framework that transforms the “mission” into an “investment”.
Aid for renewable hydrogen projects: over 3 billion euros from the Recovery Plan have been mobilised, with 1.2 billion euros specifically assigned to the development of hydrogen valleys
Aagesen announced a key legislative measure: her ministry will submit a draft bill to transpose the European hydrogen package, thus laying the foundations for a national system and a new regulated market with clear rules for hydrogen and renewable gases. In other words, the model for tolls and charges for new networks will be defined to minimise the uncertainty for private capital.
Teresa Ribera from the European Commission referred to the certainty factor that the renewable hydrogen market requires. “We know that certainty, predictability and demand management are important when it comes to making an investment attractive”, she said. In this regard, “moving on from the mission to the investment needs clarity”.
Ribera also emphasised that hydrogen is the tool which is key to replacing natural gas in hard-to-abate sectors and pointed to the H2med corridor as one of the most advanced projects for the European energy highways and a model to be imitated in terms of transnational cooperation and administrative flexibility.
In her key speech, Cani Fernández, President of the CNMC, sought to underline a basic concept for the deployment of renewable hydrogen: it isn’t a sectoral project or an isolated policy, but rather a collective effort of huge complexity. “Hydrogen is a joint project”, explained Fernández, underlining the systemic nature of this new energy economy and pointing to the international dimension of the challenge, given that the value chains, infrastructures and markets will, by definition, be cross-border.
Hydrogen infrastructures established themselves as one of the core themes of the 4th Enagás Hydrogen Day. During his speech, company CEO Arturo Gonzalo stressed that both the Spanish Hydrogen Backbone Network and the H2med corridor are progressing “at cruising speed”, reaching the envisaged milestones in administrative, technical and commercial terms. This progress, in his words, confirms that the deployment of green hydrogen in Spain has entered a decisive phase, one which is aligned with the faster investment cycle that Europe is witnessing and the urgent need to reinforce its energy autonomy.
Arturo Gonzalo: “2026 will be the year of the deployment of hydrogen, and we’ll witness the acceleration of final investment decisions and the creation of new capacities”
In the case of H2med, Gonzalo pointed out that 2025 was a key year for the project, with unprecedented progress made by the large pan-European hydrogen infrastructures. The corridor enjoys exceptional political and financial backing from the European Union and the member States, having been included among the priority energy highways and acknowledged as a flagship project by France and Germany. “We know that Europe grows when we respond to challenges together”, he stated.
At the same time, the Spanish Hydrogen Backbone Network is advancing as the great internal pillar set to articulate the domestic market and its connection with Europe. Gonzalo recalled that Spain will have an operational backbone network by 2030, with the conceptual engineering completed and the basic and detailed engineering underway, including the compressor stations. Enagás is working with six Spanish engineering firms and proceeding with key complementary projects, such as the Norte 1 underground storage facility in Cantabria, thus reinforcing the technical and operational robustness of the system.
This shared vision was echoed by Enagás chairman Antonio Llardén, who focused on the scale of the infrastructure for the deployment of renewable hydrogen in Europe. In reference to the future European Hydrogen Network, Llardén stressed that green hydrogen constitutes a unique opportunity for Europe to design and build an energy infrastructure with a clear European vision from its inception.
Unlike other energy systems in the past, he explained, hydrogen can facilitate the planning of a network designed as the backbone of the European Union’s energy planning from scratch: “This great network will articulate the European energy map, linking the networks of the member States and connecting the major production and consumption hubs.
This is an approach which, in his view, is vital if progress towards a genuine internal hydrogen market is to be made. “A European market isn’t possible without infrastructures”, he declared.
During the session titled The global progress of hydrogen: from the ambition to the execution, Hydrogen Council CEO Ivana Jemelkova provided an international vision of the evolution of hydrogen as an energy carrier and the challenges facing the acceleration of its deployment.
“The global hydrogen industry has recorded committed investments totalling over 110 billion dollars in projects that have reached their Final Investment Decision (FID) and ones that are under construction or in operation”, emphasised Jemelkova. This figure encompasses 510 projects throughout the world.
She also highlighted that “since 2020, investments have increased tenfold (from 10 billion to 110 billion dollars), growing at an average rate greater than 50% per year. This is a faster pace than that of many energy technologies in their early scale-up stages. It’s not just about numbers, but rather proof that the hydrogen industry has moved on from the ambition to the execution”.
One of the highlights was the talk devoted to the German model, during which Bernhard Kluttig, Director General of the Security, Gas and Hydrogen Division at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, outlined the experience of Germany and its contribution to the development of the European hydrogen market. From the outset, he explained, Germany has advocated coordinated planning between industry, regulation and infrastructures with a clear European orientation, in the belief that the success of hydrogen depends on integrated markets and cross-border networks.
The round table titled The unstoppable progress of hydrogen transmission networks in Europe, chaired by Arturo Gonzalo, featured the top executives of the main European operators: Rodrigo Costa, CEO of REN (Portugal), Sandrine Meunier, CEO of NaTran (France), Willemien Terpstra, CEO of Gasunie (The Netherlands), Pascal De Buck, CEO of Fluxys (Belgium), and Thomas Hüwener, CEO of Open Grid Europe (Germany). During the debate, they analysed the progress of the infrastructures in their respective countries and underlined the importance of cooperation between European operators through cross-border projects, such as the ones that Belgium and the Netherlands and France and Germany are seeking to undertake.
The session titled The French model: the hydrogen ecosystem in France was also held, with Pierre-Etienne Franc, CEO of Hy24, and Javier Brey, President of the Spanish Hydrogen Association.
The panel discussion titled Europe, committed to competitive decarbonisation through renewable hydrogen featured Cristina Lobillo, the European Commission’s Director of Energy Policy, Dr Christoph von dem Bussche, President of ENNOH, and Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, CEO of Hydrogen Europe, with Francisco de la Flor, CEO of BarMar, as its chair.
The session titled Funding to accelerate investments in hydrogen was attended by Paloma Aba Garrote, Director of CINEA at the European Commission, Roland Schulze, Managerial Advisor in low carbon energy technologies at the European Investment Bank, Bianca Dragomir, Director of Cleantech for Iberia, and Urbano Troncoso, Executive Director of Structured Finance at Banco Santander. The debate was chaired by Joan Batalla, President of Sedigas.
The event continued with the debate titled The H2med Alliance, the commitment of the entire industrial value chain, chaired by Natalia Latorre, Energy Transition General Manager at Enagás. Nicolai Raß, OGE’s Director of Hydrogen and International Development, Marie Claire Aoun, Strategy Director at Teréga, Dourogás CEO Nuno Moreira, Valter Diniz, REN’s Director of Institutional Relations, and Geoffroy Anger, Head of Hydrogen and CO₂ Business Development at NaTran, all took part.
Subsequently, Audrey Ma, Executive Director of the Board and Vice-President of International Business at ReFire, led the session titled The hydrogen economy in China, outlining the keys to the growth of the leading country in terms of electrolysis capacity.
The participants in the panel discussion titled Consolidating the demand for hydrogen: the vision for transmission and mobility, chaired by Eugenia Sillero, Secretary General of Gasnam-Neutral Transport, included Loïc Voisin, CEO of HysetCo, Audrey Ma, Luis Felipe Suárez-Olea, President of HVR Energy, Xavier Flores, CEO of TMB, Mark Freymueller, CEO of HYUNDAI Commercial Vehicles and Hydrogen Business, Miguel Carsi, Head of H2 Cluster Business Development and Value Chain at Toyota Motor Europe, and Emma Nogueira, Director of Strategy and Business Development at Bosch.
Finally, the round table titled Major green hydrogen projects currently underway in Europe, chaired by Cristina Rivero, General Director of the Spanish Energy Club, featured Juan Lladó, President of Técnicas Reunidas, Miguel Ángel López Borrego, CEO of Thyssenkrupp, Soeren Toftgaard, from Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Nils Aldag, CEO of Sunfire, and Alan Ripa, CEO of Acciona Plug.
The event was brought to a close by Arturo Gonzalo, who stressed that, far from being an emerging technology, green hydrogen is advancing towards large-scale deployment, with Spain and Europe occupying central positions in its development. The 4th Enagás Hydrogen Day confirmed that this energy carrier has reached the peak of its transition towards an industrial reality. The combination of regulation, investment, infrastructures and commitment is turning green hydrogen into one of the pillars of European decarbonisation.
“Building the hydrogen economy means building sovereignty, competitiveness and a better planet”. — Arturo Gonzalo, Enagás
The 4th Enagás Hydrogen Day came to an end with one certainty: hydrogen is now, and Spain occupies a privileged position at the starting gate as it strives to steer the charting of the new European energy map. The combination of an imminent regulatory framework, the technical feasibility of major corridors such as H2med and an increasing flow of private capital are shaping the optimal scenario for this to happen.
