The 1st list of Projects of Common Interest (PCI) under revised TEN-E officially published
After a scrutiny period of four months, the list of Projects of Common Interest (PCI) / Projects of Mutual Interest (PMI) was officially published in the Official Journal of the European Union on the 8th of April 2024. This is a key milestone allowing the BarMar and CelZa components of the H2med project to benefit from the advantages linked to PCI status
On 28 November 2023, the European Commission selected BarMar and CelZa projects to be included on the list of Projects of Common Interest (PCI) / Projects of Mutual interest (PMI). The members of the H2med consortium Enagas, GRTgaz, Teréga, REN and OGE welcomed the delegated act proposed by the European Commission selecting the H2med project as PCI.
The H2med project is the fruit of the political agreement ratified at the European summit in December 2022 between the Portuguese, Spanish and French leaders, with the support of the President of the European Commission. The project has secured the support of Germany in January 2023.
H2med aims at creating a green energy corridor linking the three countries to the rest of the European Union (EU) energy network. H2med is composed of a hydrogen interconnection between Portugal and Spain (Celorico de Beira – Zamora, ”CelZa”) and a maritime pipeline linking Spain and France (Barcelona – Marseille, “BarMar”) to transport renewable hydrogen from the Iberian Peninsula to Central Europe.
In order to be selected as a PCI, the H2med project has shown significant contribution at EU level to sustainability, market integration, security of supply and competition.
PCI projects will notably benefit from a streamlined permit granting procedures and an improved, faster and better streamlined environmental assessment. This important milestone will also allow BarMar and CelZa projects to be eligible for financial assistance and participate in the next call for applications for European funding (2024 Energy CEF call) to support the study-related expenditures needed to trigger the investment decision scheduled for 2026 and conduct commissioning in 2030.
H2med project promoters are also aiming at launching public and market consultations in the near future.
Visit our website h2medproject.com