A group of eleven European gas infrastructure companies from nine EU member states presented a plan to create a hydrogen pipeline network of almost 23,000 km by 2040, to be used in parallel to the natural gas grid.

The “European hydrogen backbone” was presented in a vision paper developed by transmission system operators Enagás, Energinet, Fluxys Belgium, Gasunie, GRTgaz, NET4GAS, OGE, ONTRAS, Snam, Swedegas (Nordion Energi), Teréga and consultancy company Guidehouse.

The proposed network will run through Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland, according to Euractiv.com. “We see the European Hydrogen Backbone as a critical piece of the puzzle” to decarbonising energy, the companies write, saying they “fully support the European Green Deal”.

The “backbone” will connect future hydrogen supply and demand centres across Europe, such as industrial clusters, carbon capture and storage locations and large scale renewable electricity production sites, including off-shore wind farms in the North Sea and solar power plants in the South of Europe.

According to a “preliminary estimation” cited in the report, the proposed network should be able to transport more than the expected 1,130 TWh of annual hydrogen demand in Europe by 2040 and cost between €27 and €64 billion.