Aizpiri (Enagás) descarta retrasos en el H2Med y defiende que estará listo a finales de 2030

I believe that Europe's commitment to decarbonization is stronger than ever. In this new stage of the European Commission, President von der Leyen has made it clear that decarbonization is non-negotiable. Let's think that the goal of a net-zero Europe by 2050 is more essential than ever, and decarbonization is a component of that strategic objective. Perhaps now it is seen that decarbonization is also part of other great European goals, such as strategic autonomy in these times we live in. I believe that renewable energies and green hydrogen are the meeting point of the three major agendas that Europe has at this moment: strategic autonomy, competitiveness, and decarbonization.

We, first of all, are clear about Spain's role in helping Europe achieve these objectives, and we have already demonstrated this with the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, when the Spanish gas infrastructure protected us from the impact of threats to security of supply and to a large extent also the impact on energy prices. And we have demonstrated the value of infrastructure. For Europe to succeed in this challenge, it needs to bet on indigenous resources, own resources. This is the case of renewable electricity or renewable hydrogen or biofuels generated within European territory. But we also need an infrastructure that allows connecting production and consumption points. Spain is proof that this can be done, that these competitive renewable resources can be produced in European territory at the scale we need. And companies like Enagás demonstrate that with a well-designed and efficient infrastructure, an energy market, in this case for green hydrogen, can be sustained in effective and competitive terms.

Well, if we talk about green hydrogen, for example, remember that the Repower EU document, Europe's energy plan to respond to Russia's aggression, established that by 2030 Europe must consume 20 million tons of green hydrogen per year, and half of that must be produced within European territory. Well, Spain has the capacity to competitively produce more than 2 million tons of green hydrogen per year, not only to meet our own needs but also to export and contribute to the whole of Europe meeting its needs. So we are talking about very significant resources in the case of Spain, which can also allow us to create a value chain, create jobs and wealth in those areas of our country that need it most, the interior areas of Spain where the reindustrialization effort has usually been more difficult. Green hydrogen is the perfect opportunity for Spain to play a leading role in this new stage of energy autonomy in Europe.

Well, let me give you some figures. As you know, last year the first auction of the European Hydrogen Bank was resolved. Now a second auction with 100 million euros is taking place, and a third one of another 1,000 million has been announced. But the first one last year with 800 million euros, the country that presented the most competitive projects, that obtained the highest amount of premiums for its green hydrogen projects, was Spain. The average price of green hydrogen for Spanish projects was 5.8 euros per kilo. The second country that presented the most projects was Germany with an average of 11.6 euros per kilo. We can say that Spain is in the best conditions to be the great supplier of green hydrogen for its own needs, for our industry, but also for Europe, because our hydrogen is undoubtedly the most competitive, and as a sample, Spanish green hydrogen costs half that of green hydrogen produced in countries like Germany, in the center of Europe. Hydrogen produced here with sun and wind, and in Germany with offshore wind, right? That's it.