The European Commission continues to support the creation of a hydrogen corridor to connect regions with high potential for hydrogen production like in North-Eastern Germany and in Baltic states with expected high demand clusters in central Europe, like in Southern Germany and North Bohemia. On Tuesday, November 28, the European Commission adopted a decision to put Czech-German Hydrogen Interconnector (CGHI) on its list of projects of common interest (PCI) and mutual interest (PMI). Those projects are key cross border infrastructure projects and meant to foster the realisation of European Green Deal and climate objectives.
Hence, CGHI can benefit from streamlined permitting and regulatory procedures which will help with faster implementation. As a result, the project is implementable in a relatively short timeframe. The project also became eligible for EU financial support from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).
CGHI was chosen as one of 65 projects within the category “Hydrogen and electrolysers projects”. This category includes applications for H2 pipelines, electrolysers, ammonia as well as liquified hydrogen import terminals and storage facilities. The European Commission received 147 applications in total in this category.
This year’s PCI and PMI list is the first presented under the revised Trans-European Network for Energy (TEN-E Regulation), which focuses on cross-border energy infrastructure of the future. In the next step, the list will be submitted to the European Parliament and the Council for their scrutiny. Bodies have two months to either accept or reject the list in full but may not amend it. Once the list is adopted, the Commission will work with project promoters and Member States to support the rapid implementation of this list of projects.