Five Countries Sign Hydrogen Corridor Agreement in Rome
As part of the first ministerial conference for the Southern Hydrogen Corridor, Germany, Algeria, Italy, Austria and Tunisia signed a declaration of intent (JDol) on the development of the Southern Hydrogen Corridor in Rome today.
The conference was attended by ministers, high-ranking delegations and representatives of the countries’ industries. Switzerland and the European Commission were also represented as observers. The meeting emphasized the political support and close cooperation of all countries involved in the Southern Hydrogen Corridor, which was substantiated by the signing of the political declaration of intent.
Germany was represented by Dr. Philip Nimmermann, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection: “The Southern Hydrogen Corridor is one of the largest and most important renewable energy projects of our time. Today, we are strengthening this new bridge between North Africa and Europe with the joint declaration of intent. We can use North Africa’s immense potential for renewable energies, advance the hydrogen ramp-up in Germany and support the EU’s climate targets. German companies can be important partners in this and support Algeria and Tunisia in diversifying the local economy, making it future-proof and creating new jobs.”
The southern corridor is intended to create a direct pipeline connection for gaseous hydrogen between North Africa and Italy, Austria and Germany, consisting of five sub-projects. It will have a length of approx. 3500-4000 km. The European part of the southern corridor will have a length of 3250 km and consist of 60-70% converted natural gas pipelines, according to current planning by the transmission system operators. This would allow up to 163 TWh/year of renewable hydrogen to be transported to Europe and 55 TWh to Germany.
The hydrogen infrastructure projects along the corridor, which stretch from Sicily to Bavaria, have already been recognized as Projects of Common Interest (PCI) by the EU. The project has also been awarded “Global Gateway” project status by the EU. On the production side, Tunisia has already signed ten letters of intent for hydrogen projects, while Algeria has announced the development of a major hydrogen production project with the participation of companies from Austria, Germany and Italy.
The next step is to concretize the hydrogen pipeline to North Africa – a project that the BMWK is actively supporting through its bilateral hydrogen task force with Algeria and through close cooperation with German and local institutions in Algeria and Tunisia.
The JDoI underlines the central role of the Southern Hydrogen Corridor in connecting renewable hydrogen production in North Africa with demand centers in the European Union. Through investment promotion, capacity building and the harmonization of government efforts, the signatories of the JDoI aim to build a robust hydrogen value chain that ensures local value creation, jobs and sustainable energy development. The initiative is intended to become a cornerstone of the European energy security and decarbonization strategy.
Source: https://www.bmwk.de/Redaktion/EN/Pressemitteilungen/2025/01/20250121-joint-political-declaration-of-intent-develop-southern-hydrogen-corridor.html
