Good morning from the second day of the Energy Observatory, 10 AM, and I have with us Arturo Gonzalo from Enagás. How are you, Arturo? Good morning and welcome.
Thank you very much, Arturo, and congratulations to El Español for this Energy Observatory, which I think is a magnificent way to enrich the public conversation on energy in our country.
Well, it is important to always enrich debates, especially with qualified opinions like those we are having in this first edition of the Observatory. I wanted to talk to you about the challenges of the gas network for green hydrogen. You have launched a call for interest this month together with colleagues from France, Germany, and Portugal to detect the degree of interest that exists in the hydrogen industry and the interest in using the H2Med. I know it's only been a few days, but how are things going so far?
I think they are going very well. First of all, I would like to emphasize the importance of this initiative. It is unprecedented to conduct a first market test of what has all the conditions to be the great green hydrogen corridor in Europe. We are an example of European collaboration. We are five TSOs from four countries, as you said: Portugal, Spain, France, and Germany. We are REN in Portugal, Enagás in Spain, Terega and GRTgaz in France, and OGE in Germany, with the support of the European Commission. Proof of this reference initiative in Europe is that it has aroused enormous interest. For the call for interest we launched on November 7, more than 800 people registered, 800 actors from the hydrogen value chain. We are also developing initiatives in each of these countries to explain how the H2Med platform works, which is open until December 18. So we expect it to have a magnificent response that will allow us to preliminarily identify infrastructure needs, which will allow us to design it and finally allocate, in an open and transparent way, the capacity to access this future green hydrogen corridor in Europe.
What happens is that, if I understand correctly, these are expressions of interest where no commitment is required. When it comes down to it, will they take the step? I mean, will industries take the step in the future? I think that without a doubt, Arturo, that is the big question, right?
Well, first of all, commitments are not yet acquired because this is a process that begins with a non-binding phase, a call for interest, but it gives a very solid picture of the needs that are being generated in the market. An example of this is the call for interest we did in Spain at Enagás a year ago, which allowed us to take a very precise snapshot of the market reality. It must be said that this call for interest is the first stage of a process that will then lead to a binding open season, as is usually done in this sector, which we will launch next year, 2025. And as I said, it will allow us to allocate capacity openly and transparently to all future users of H2Med. But of course, industry will take the step, it will take the step because industry needs green hydrogen to decarbonize, and because it is already a requirement in force in EU regulations, as everyone knows.
In the RED III directive, there is a binding obligation that 42% of the gray hydrogen that industry uses today must be converted to green hydrogen by 2030. In Spain, industry currently consumes 650,000 tons of gray hydrogen per year, and furthermore, the PNIEC sets a target not of 42% but of 74% to be converted to green hydrogen. There are also obligations in other key regulations, for example regarding transport. The FuelEU Maritime regulation already for 2025 sets a 2% emission reduction obligation for maritime transport, which by 2050 must reach 80% decarbonization, something that is only possible through green hydrogen. Air transport, with the European regulation ReFuelEU Aviation, already for 2025 sets an obligation to use 2% sustainable aviation fuels, SAFs, which by 2050 must be 70%, and again require the use of synthetic fuels produced through green hydrogen.
Arturo, this is an unstoppable process. Decarbonization is a necessity that applies to all sectors, and for industry and heavy transport, decarbonization unavoidably requires the use of green hydrogen. The thing is, whenever we talk about this topic, doubts arise, whether reasonable or not, about whether hydrogen will be profitable and whether it can be achieved at prices that are affordable and bearable for industry.
