The Algerian company Sonatrach indicated, on October 23, 2024, that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with a number of partners. This is to assess the feasibility of the green hydrogen value chain from Algeria to the European Union via the Hydrogen 2 southern corridor project.
The Southern Hydrogen Corridor 2 project aims to transport hydrogen produced in North Africa to Austria and Germany via Italy, through a planned 3,300-kilometer pipeline, according to Standard & Poor’s Global Insights.
Thus, Sonatrach signed a memorandum of understanding with the Algerian public utility company Sonelgaz, the German company VNG, the Austrian company Verband Green Hydrogen and the Italian companies Snam and Sea Corridor.
In a statement, Sonatrach said: “The Southern Hydrogen Corridor 2 will play a major role in reducing dependence on fossil fuels in the energy sector and in promoting the energy transition towards a sustainable and low-carbon economy.”
Let us recall that Sonatrach had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Spanish oil refining company Cepsa, owned by Mubadala, to explore the possibility of setting up a project for the production of green hydrogen and its derivatives in Algeria.
The two stages of the Memorandum of Understanding include the assessment of the feasibility of the project in the first stage, and then its development in the second stage.
The Southern Hydrogen Corridor 2 is one of five large-scale hydrogen import pipelines, which is expected to facilitate the import of 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen into the EU by 2030. It has already been selected as a Project of Common Interest and aims to ensure the import of hydrogen from North Africa via southern Italy, where it will be connected to major hydrogen demand hubs in Italy, Austria, and Germany.
