Enagás is betting that green hydrogen will be “competitive” in 2030

The CEO of Enagás, Arturo Gonzalo, was convinced this Tuesday that green hydrogen will be “competitive” in 2030 and will become a “key instrument” for the decarbonization of Europe.

In a conference with analysts on the occasion of the presentation of Enagás’ quarterly results, Gonzalo estimated that, despite the inflationary crisis having increased the initial investment in electrolyzers, it will return to a path that will allow “green hydrogen to be placed in prices.” competitive”, also taking into account the increase in the prices of CO2 emissions, which will make this energy vector more attractive.

Gonzalo believes that the non-binding ‘call for interest’, which the five operators will hold on November 7 to gather the sector’s interest in the H2med corridor, will be “key” to this, as it will mark “a before and after.” as it is the first at a pan-European level.

Enagás, together with its partners GRTgaz, Teréga, REN and OGE, presented this Monday the application to the CEF (Connecting Europe Facility) funds to qualify for European financing and carry out detailed studies of its Projects of Common Interest (PCI); the H2med, the Spanish backbone network and the two associated storages.

Until September, the company recorded losses of 130.2 million euros, compared to profits of 258.9 million in the same period of the previous year, due to the accounting loss of 363.71 million recorded from the sale of its stake in the 30.2% in the American Tallgrass Energy, closed in July. This operation has allowed Enagás to reduce its net debt by almost 1,000 million, up to 2,421 million.

The group has decided to postpone the update of its strategic plan to the first quarter of 2025. In July it announced that it would do so in the last quarter of this year. The group wants to have “greater visibility” regarding regulations, remuneration and the priorities of the next European Commission.

In a conference with analysts to present the results, Gonzalo indicated that the review of the methodology for reviewing the financial remuneration rate for the activities of the sector, for which the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) has already launched a public consultation, “will be very relevant data that will allow us to anticipate some elements of the next regulatory period, although the circulars of the gas system will still take a year.”

The executive insisted that a “reasonable” financial remuneration rate for the company would be around 7%.

The chief executive of Enagás also hoped that the arbitration award that settles the company’s discrepancies against the Peruvian State regarding the GSP gas pipeline, which has taken longer than expected, will be cleared before this strategic update.

Gonzalo estimated that, according to the criteria of the group’s legal advisors, this award will be issued “in the very short term” and will be positive for Enagás.