The Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union sent a series of three questions to the Member States on Tuesday 18 May regarding the EU’s hydrogen strategy, ahead of a meeting of the Council’s Energy Working Group on 31 May.
In particular, Lisbon wants to know what the “main constraints” are, as identified by the different EU countries regarding the introduction of hydrogen into the main gas network.
With this question, the Presidency refers to the blending of hydrogen with natural gas in existing networks, a possibility on which the Commission has taken a cautious position in its hydrogen strategy (see EUROPE 12523/1).
The blending option “could be further explored”, the strategy states, while pointing out that blending changes the quality of the gas consumed and “may affect the design of gas infrastructure, end-use applications and the interoperability of cross-border systems”.
In addition, the Presidency asks about the “missing links” to adapt and interconnect the energy systems integration strategy (see EUROPE 12523/2) with the hydrogen strategy and existing fuel regulations and infrastructure.
See the Portuguese Presidency document: https://bit.ly/3bE4f01 (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)