The CEO of Enagás, Arturo Gonzalo, has launched on Tuesday a “message of trust on hydrogen” and has denied that there is a “bubble” with this molecule. With his commitment to this energy vector, “we are doing what we have to do”, since it is a “government mandate”, with projects approved by the EU. It is not “a fantasy”, but a key piece of the “incontestable” commitment of Europe for strategic autonomy. “What is a bubble is not green hydrogen, which is a bubble is a certain climate of opinion that is being tried.”
Gonzalo recalled that hydrogen is one of the five greatest priorities of the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. “It is the great opportunity of Spain in the 21st century.” A challenge that “is not easy, is complex.”
The Operator of the Gasista Network and owner of the Gas pipeline , 2% in the American Tallgrass Energy (363.71 million) and the accounting disability for the arbitration award related to the conflict with Peru by the South Peruvian Gas pipeline (245.72 million).
The group announced on Tuesday, investments of 4,035 million in the next six years, of which 77% (3,125 million) will be allocated to the deployment of renewable hydrogen infrastructure, within the framework of its strategic update 2025-2030.
The Executive has 2024 of “Inflection Year” with an “important accounting sanitation” that “reinforces Enagás’s ability to address a new stage of investment and growth”, with “focus in Spain and Europe” and in decarbonization.
Of the investments announced in the Plan (with 465 million for this year and the one that comes), 83% will be eligible according to the EU taxonomy until 2030 for their contribution to the environmental objective of mitigation of climate change. The group estimates an annual growth composed of the gross exploitation result (EBITDA) of 9.5% between 2026 and 2030. For this year, it provides a benefit after taxes of 265 million and an EBITDA of 765 million.
“Since we presented our strategic plan in July 2022, the environment has changed and now, two and a half years later, it is a good time to take stock and update our vision and objectives,” said Gonzalo analysts, who described 2024 of “key year” for the future of Enagás, “adopting the necessary decisions to prepare the company for a new growth stage based primarily on hydrogen.”
Among the “key milestones” of the exercise, the group highlights the inclusion of the first axes of the Hydrogen Trunk Net The mandate of the Government of Spain for the development of these PCI projects.
In the next few weeks the public participation plan for the first 2,600 kilometers of the trunk hydrogen network will be launched, which will be “the largest deployed so far in Spain,” said Gonzalo, who wanted to launch a “message Trust to shareholders ”in the face of the price drop, which this Tuesday left more than 3% after the presentation of results. It has also reduced importance to investment cancellation ads in this molecule, Fertiberia case: “this is serious,” he said, and recalled that other companies such as BP or Repsol are confirming them.
The group has announced the creation of Scale Green Energy, a subsidiary that will lead the development of other infrastructure and services for decarbonization in fields such as CO2, LNG and biognl bunkering, renewable hydrogen for mobility and green ammonia. In this subsidiary, “in principle” 100% of Enagás, the activity of the renewable enagás is not included, in which he is a partner Pontegadea, of Amancio Ortega.
Gonzalo has defended that “the deployment of hydrogen will not reduce importance to natural gas.” The progressive nuclear blackout from 2027 and the new demand of data centers, with 2,500 megawatts (MW) installed by 2030, according to government forecasts, will highlight the “importance” of combined cycle plants, that burn natural gas, with “peaks of increasing demand” of this raw material due to the intermittent nature of renewables. The Executive has indicated that the gas consumption of these plants will continue to fall in the coming years and that these peaks can be covered with existing regasifying.
Regarding the H2Med watercolo, the date of the final investment decision, in principle in 2028, will depend on the networks to which it will be connected, “not only of us.” “Our goal is to be prepared for entry into operation in 2030.”
The Enagás Executive has stressed that, thanks to the company’s regasifying network, Spanish consumers have saved 10,000 million since 2022 in importance of liquefied natural gas (LNG). And he stressed that “recurrently” the reference price of natural gas in the Iberian market is lower than the European. Today it was 47.7 euros/MWh when the Dutch TTF was 48, in Germany of 50 and in Italy of 55 euros/MWh.
Regarding Donald Trump’s policies, he pointed out that he will not propitiate “any change” in US LNG exports to Europe, although if the tariffs announced by the new US president are applied, they will have “some effect on world markets ”, As an indirect effect. “If China is found that the US LNG has a 15% survey can have other flows.”
Gonzalo recalled that the US is an “essential supplier” for Europe, with 45% of all LNG imports. “It has had a transcendental importance to start withdrawing the Russian dependence of the European energy mix.”
With this investment plan, whose presentation the group delayed a few months in 2024 in the face of changes in the Government and the European Commission, Enagás estimates that it will increase its regulated assets between 2025 and 2030, to about 5,000 million, with hydrogen assets of hydrogen from The company already surpassing those of natural gas at the end of the period.
The group has reaffirmed its objective of one euro per share for exercises 2024, 2025 and 2026. That level, Gonzalo explained to journalists, is “sustainable” until 2030, but “it is not a commitment”, waiting of the new regulatory period 2027-2032 that the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) must prepare.
The Executive stressed that in 2024, the net benefit, not counting those two extraordinary events, was 310.1 million, 3.2% more, and above the annual objective marked by the company of a fork between 270-280 millions. The gross exploitation result (EBITDA) was 760.7 million, 2.5% less but higher than the target of a fork between 730 and 740 million.
The income was 913.2 million, 0.7% more, in a context in which the current regulatory framework represents a reduction of about 50 million annually. The group highlights the improvement of the risk profile and the significant reduction of leverage, with a “very significant reinforcement of the balance to undertake renewable hydrogen investments from 2027”.
With the closure of the sale of its participation in Tallgrass Energy for 1.1 billion dollars (about 1,018 million euros), Enagás amounted in advance about 574 million bank debt and partially replaced a bonus of 600 million euros, expiration on 6 February 2025. In this way, the group’s net debt in 2024 was reduced by 28.2%, up to 2,404 million. More than 80% of gross debt is referenced to a fixed type, with a half -life of 4.8 years and a financial cost of 2.6%.
The award for the GSP Peruvian gas pipeline project, although favorable to the group, reached half of the compensation requested by the company, although Enagás does not rule out an improvement of compensation.
Gonzalo said before analysts that there is still an open rectification request for material error for an amount of 94 million dollars (about 90 million euros) and another 230 million dollars (about 220 million euros) in concept of guarantee recovery which could result from arbitration in the ICADI on the GSP creditors contest.
“We have already made available to the Government of Peru to try to achieve a friendly agreement on the execution of the award,” added the manager in this regard.
#Enagás #denies #bubble #hydrogen
