Five countries sign joint declaration of intent to continue work on southern hydrogen corridor
Published by Alfred Hamer,
Editorial Assistant
World Pipelines,
Italy, Germany, Austria, Algeria and Tunisia have signed a joint declaration of intent in Rome on the Southern Hydrogen Corridor, an infrastructure project to transport renewable hydrogen for over 3300 km from North Africa to Italy, Austria and Germany. The countries have declared their intention to continue the work for the development of the "SouthH2 Corridor" during the first Pentaministerial Meeting, organised at Villa Madama by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security.
The Vice President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, and the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto, chaired the work of the Ministerial. The Algerian Minister of Energy, Mines and Renewable Energies, Mohamed Arkab, the State Secretary of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Philipp Nimmermann, the Director General of the Climate and Energy Directorate of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology, Jürgen Schneider, the State Secretary of the Swiss Federal Council for Energy, Benoît Revaz, the Ambassador of the Republic of Tunisia in Rome, Mourad Bourehla, on behalf of the Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy, Fatma Thabet Chiboub, and the Director General of Energy of the European Commission, Ditte Juul Jørgensen, also took part. The Ministerial was followed by an Entrepreneurial Forum, opened by Ministers Tajani and Pichetto, which brought together companies from the countries that signed the declaration and that are present or prospectively interested in the hydrogen supply chain, also in light of the strategic partnership between Europe and Africa.
The Forum, divided into two sessions moderated by the Deputy Director General for the Promotion of the MAECI Country System Fabrizio Lobasso and the Head of the Energy Department of MASE, Federico Boschi, provided an overview of "SouthH2", recognised by the European Union as a Project of Common Interest (PCI), as well as the opportunities created by the new infrastructure for companies in the supply chain. The event brought together around 130 participants including institutional delegations and the industrial sector from the various countries involved.
"Italy is working towards the objectives of decarbonisation and energy independence in a concrete and pragmatic way, pursuing an energy mix in which renewable sources, hydrogen and nuclear energy are adequately developed. Last November 5, we hosted the first meeting of the Global Fusion Energy Group at the Farnesina, in partnership with the International Atomic Energy Agency, and today we are adding a further piece to our energy strategy with the development of the Southern Hydrogen Corridor, which will further strengthen the role of our country as a European energy “hub”,” said Vice President Tajani.
Minister Pichetto declared: “This agreement has great political and institutional value, because it reaffirms the commitment to cooperation, aimed at the realisation of a decisive work for the energy future of both continents. Italy is ready with its ‘players’ to be central also in the hydrogen sector, a vector projected towards a renewable and sustainable future.”
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