The European Climate, Environment and Infrastructure Executive Agency (CINEA) has awarded a €24 million grant to support Italy’s H2 Backbone hydrogen project, a strategic component of the wider SoutH2 Corridor, which aims to link North Africa’s green hydrogen supply to Central Europe.
The funding, announced in June under the Connecting Europe Facility for Energy (CEF-E) initiative, has been allocated to Snam, Italy’s leading gas network operator. The grant will finance critical engineering and environmental studies for the project.
The SoutH2 Corridor envisions a 3,300-kilometer hydrogen pipeline system, designed to transport up to 4 million tons of hydrogen annually from North Africa through Italy and Austria to southern Germany. The transnational project is spearheaded by transmission system operators: Snam (Italy), Bayernets (Germany), Trans Austria Gas Pipeline (Austria), Gas Connect Austria
The Italian H2 Backbone forms a major segment of the corridor, comprising approximately 1,900 kilometers of hydrogen transport infrastructure. Significantly, about 60% of this network will be repurposed from existing natural gas infrastructure, enhancing cost-efficiency and reducing environmental impact. The plan also includes the installation of several hundred megawatts of compression stations to enable seamless hydrogen flow.
The pipeline is expected to be operational by 2030, marking a major step in Europe’s ambition to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and establish itself as a global leader in green hydrogen.