A planned 4 million tonnes per year of renewable hydrogen imports from North Africa is placing the SoutH2 Corridor among Europe’s largest proposed hydrogen infrastructure routes, but the latest political agreement also underscores how much work remains before that capacity can become a bankable supply chain.
Energy ministers from Algeria, Tunisia, Italy, Austria and Germany signed the Algiers Ministerial Declaration on October 1, reaffirming political support for the corridor and calling for stronger coordination on its development. The declaration also envisages a dedicated technical secretariat with support from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, adding an institutional layer to a project that has so far advanced through a combination of government commitments and feasibility studies.
The SoutH2 Corridor is planned as a roughly 3,300 kilometer hydrogen pipeline system linking North Africa with Italy, Austria and Germany. Project developers currently put potential import capacity at more than 4 million tonnes per year, with about 65% of the route expected to use repurposed infrastructure. The corridor is targeted for operation in the early 2030s.
That capacity would make the corridor significant in the context of Europe’s emerging hydrogen import system. The project’s developers say 4 million tonnes per year could represent more than 40% of the 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen imports envisaged under the EU’s REPowerEU framework. The frequently cited comparison with roughly 10% of European hydrogen demand in 2040, however, depends on the demand scenario used and should be treated as a projection rather than an established market requirement.
The corridor’s European section is relatively advanced in infrastructure planning, but the upstream supply proposition remains dependent on new renewable generation and hydrogen production capacity in Algeria.
The initial industrial partnership was established in October 2024, when Sonatrach and Sonelgaz signed a memorandum of understanding with Germany’s VNG, Italy’s Snam and SeaCorridor, and Austria’s VERBUND Green Hydrogen. The parties agreed to examine the technical and economic feasibility of an integrated value chain covering hydrogen production in Algeria and exports to Europe.
That distinction matters because the corridor itself does not create hydrogen supply. A 4 Mtpa export system would require a corresponding production base, renewable electricity supply, water infrastructure, compression and storage, as well as projects capable of securing long term European offtake.
Algeria’s own hydrogen strategy provides a useful benchmark. The country has targeted production of about 1.2 million tonnes of hydrogen per year by 2040, with 30 TWh intended for export. That target is substantially below the 4 Mtpa import capacity now associated with the SoutH2 Corridor, illustrating the scale-up required if the corridor is ultimately to operate near its stated capacity.
The gap does not necessarily mean that the corridor is oversized. It indicates that pipeline capacity and production capacity are being developed on different timelines and that additional projects will need to emerge around the export route.
The corridor’s principal infrastructure proposition is the conversion of existing gas networks rather than constructing an entirely new pipeline system.
The SoutH2 project says more than 65% of its planned route could use repurposed infrastructure. Snam has separately indicated that approximately 60% to 70% of the 2,300 kilometer Italian section could be based on existing infrastructure converted for hydrogen and potentially multipurpose operation. The broader corridor also includes infrastructure operated by TAG, Gas Connect Austria and bayernets.
Repurposing can reduce the physical construction requirement and potentially lower capital expenditure compared with a fully new pipeline network. It also allows the project to build on existing rights of way, compressor stations and connections to established European gas markets.
But hydrogen conversion still requires engineering work. Hydrogen has different physical and material characteristics from natural gas, affecting pipeline materials, compression, metering, valves and other equipment. The corridor’s technical design therefore has to establish which assets can be converted, which require modification and where new dedicated infrastructure remains necessary.
Snam’s plan already points to this hybrid model, with repurposed infrastructure combined with new facilities where required. The corridor should therefore not be viewed simply as a gas pipeline switched from methane to hydrogen. It is a new hydrogen transmission system assembled partly from existing assets.
The European Commission describes the Southern Hydrogen Corridor as connecting North Africa, Italy, Austria and Germany, with Algeria and Tunisia forming the North African partner countries. The Commission says feasibility studies have started and that initial renewable hydrogen projects are under development in Algeria and Tunisia.
The inclusion of Tunisia provides the corridor with a second potential North African production and transit geography, although the specific contribution of Tunisian production to the overall 4 Mtpa figure should not be assumed until individual projects, capacities and transport arrangements are established.
This is particularly relevant because the SoutH2 initiative is no longer only a transmission project. Its development increasingly resembles an integrated cross-border hydrogen value chain requiring coordination between producers, pipeline operators, governments and future buyers.
The October 2026 declaration’s proposed technical secretariat addresses precisely that coordination problem. The European Commission had already identified the need for stronger coordination and implementation efforts around the SoutH2 Secretariat, while its latest infrastructure framework reconfirmed the corridor’s individual projects under the EU’s second PCI and PMI list.
The largest commercial risk is not simply whether hydrogen can be transported through the corridor, but whether enough European customers will commit to purchasing it at prices that support new production and transmission infrastructure.
The European Commission has identified the corridor as strategically relevant to decarbonizing industrial hubs and improving market integration, while also noting that the hydrogen market remains at an early stage and that additional conceptual work is needed to derisk investment.
That challenge is shared across Europe’s hydrogen infrastructure buildout. Pipeline capacity can be planned years ahead of actual demand, creating a sequencing problem in which producers need transport certainty, pipeline developers need contracted volumes and industrial consumers need competitive hydrogen prices before committing to conversion or new equipment.
The SoutH2 Corridor’s Project of Common Interest status provides an important regulatory advantage. PCI projects can benefit from streamlined permitting and are eligible to apply for Connecting Europe Facility funding. The EU’s 2026 CEF call made €600 million available for co-financing eligible projects from the second PCI and PMI list.
Yet public infrastructure support cannot substitute for commercial offtake. The central test for the corridor will be whether its political commitments can be converted into binding production projects, infrastructure investment decisions and long term contracts.
That makes the Algiers declaration significant less as evidence that the 4 Mtpa system is already secured than as an attempt to close the coordination gap around it. The proposed secretariat, continued five-country cooperation and ongoing feasibility work create mechanisms for addressing technical and investment barriers, while the corridor’s repurposed infrastructure strategy could limit some of the capital requirements associated with a completely new network.
For Algeria, the opportunity is to move beyond its established role as a natural gas supplier and build a renewable hydrogen export chain around new solar and wind capacity. For Italy, Austria and Germany, the attraction is access to a geographically proximate source of renewable hydrogen connected directly to major industrial demand centers. For Tunisia, participation creates the possibility of becoming part of a broader Mediterranean hydrogen supply architecture.
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