Spain has secured €32.5 million in EU funding for early-stage engineering and design work on its national hydrogen backbone, with Enagás announcing the grant agreement at its second Hydrogen Technical Day in Madrid.
The funding, provided through the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and administered by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), will support studies tied to Spain’s hydrogen transmission network—particularly for the H2Med corridor, which aims to connect Iberian green hydrogen to central Europe via France. While €32.5 million may appear modest against the estimated €2.5 billion price tag of Spain’s hydrogen infrastructure plans, it reflects a strategic signal: the European Commission views Spain’s projects as core to regional decarbonization and energy security objectives.
At the event, Enagás CEO Arturo Gonzalo emphasized that Spain leads in submissions and awards under the EU Hydrogen Bank’s second auction round, highlighting the country’s competitive hydrogen production costs. This competitive edge is partly attributed to Spain’s abundant renewable resources—solar and wind—which enable lower-cost electrolysis compared to northern counterparts. However, technical readiness and permitting challenges remain significant barriers to deployment.
Enagás is also chairing the Hydrogen Gas Assets Readiness (H2GAR) initiative—a European Transmission System Operators (TSOs) alliance aimed at defining shared criteria for hydrogen transport infrastructure. Within that framework, engineering studies funded by CEF will feed into both national and transnational pipeline design, with hydrogen purity, pressure standards, and material compatibility being critical focus areas.
Panels at the Hydrogen Technical Day outlined key technical progress and remaining hurdles across the hydrogen infrastructure lifecycle. Experts from Siemens Iberia, ICREA, and BIP Consulting Spain noted that AI and digital twins will be essential in optimizing system design, forecasting maintenance, and reducing operational uncertainty—especially as hydrogen introduces new failure modes in metallurgy and pressure management.
In parallel, equipment manufacturers are tackling persistent cost and performance trade-offs. Panelists from Burckhardt Compression, Baker Hughes, and Mannesmann Line Pipe identified four areas of active development: efficiency in compression systems, cost-effective instrumentation, hydrogen-compatible pipeline materials, and pricing predictability for project developers. These elements are essential to derisking project pipelines and attracting institutional capital.
Material integrity and midstream safety also featured prominently. Contributions from Snam, National Gas, and Enagás engineers emphasized that pipeline repurposing is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Hydrogen embrittlement, differential stress corrosion, and long-term seal performance require bespoke monitoring strategies. Recent progress in risk analysis tools and guidelines for large-scale metering station design indicates growing maturity—but implementation timelines remain uncertain, given regulatory lag across EU member states.
Research organizations, including the National Hydrogen Centre (CNH2) and the Spanish Hydrogen Technology Platform, echoed this message: technology is advancing, but its acceleration depends on scaling R&D efforts beyond lab demonstrations. CNH2 Director Emilio Nieto pointed to ongoing efforts to reduce dependency on critical raw materials through new membrane chemistries and pressure vessel designs, which are vital for long-term cost competitiveness and supply chain resilience.
The Enagás-led Hydrogen Technology Observatory (OTH), launched in 2024, now counts nearly 60 partners across industry and academia. It is increasingly seen as a vehicle for harmonizing standards, enabling knowledge-sharing across the fragmented European hydrogen landscape. The upcoming OTH workshop in July will focus on maritime hydrogen applications—a sector where Spain could lead, given its extensive coastline and shipping infrastructure.
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