Enagas CEO: Europe's hydrogen infrastructure will be delayed by two to three years.

According to the Spanish gas grid operator Enagas, Tuesday's statement, there could be a delay of up to two or three year in the deployment of pipelines and other infrastructure for shipping hydrogen across Europe.

The company is one of the most ardent supporters of green hydrogen, a form that uses renewable energy to produce it.

Enagas announced earlier this year that it would invest over 4 billion euro by the end decade. This was mainly to diversify and manage a network hydrogen infrastructure.

It plans to build in Spain a 2,600 km (1 615 mile) hydrogen-based network that will be connected to a planned trans-European corridor called H2Med, which aims to connect the Iberian peninsula with Northwest Europe.

Enagas continues to expect the Spanish network will be ready by 2030. Arturo Gonzalo, chief executive of Enagas, said that delays at the European level are likely to be two or three year.

"Are there any delays in Europe?" "I would say that there are very few delays in Europe... Different member states have set the launch dates for their hydrogen infrastructures from 2030 to 2032," said he.

This is beyond the H2Med target of being operational by 2030. (Reporting and editing by Kirsty Donovan; Pietro Lombardi)

(source: Reuters)