The Slovak transmission system operator Eustream and the gas storage operator Nafta support EU hydrogen initiatives and are developing projects but warn that the lack of guaranteed hydrogen production or consumption makes it difficult to secure a return on investment.
The new EU directive and regulation on renewable gas and natural gas aim to facilitate their integration into the energy system, and implementation is expected by 2026.
In drawing up rules for the emerging hydrogen market, the Commission has used the existing rules for natural gas as a model, but experts have warned that, unlike the hydrogen market, the natural gas market is fully developed.
“We don’t even have hydrogen storage facilities capable of injecting or extracting hydrogen, nor do we have the infrastructure for transport or production,” said Nafta’s Anna Slavkovská at the Slovak Gas and Oil Association conference.
She added that it is “premature” at this stage to impose rules as strict as those on the gas market.
The directive also requires EU member states to plan and develop hydrogen infrastructure. But Sylvi Angyalová of Eustream likened the challenge to electric mobility: people are not buying electric cars because there are few charging points, but the charging infrastructure is not being expanded because there are few cars, she said.
“It is one thing if we manage to build a hydrogen pipeline through Slovakia, it is another thing if in 2030 the market will be ready enough,” Angyalová explained.
“We will not rebuild the grid without guaranteed production and consumption. But we will do everything possible to be ready for hydrogen by 2030,” she added.
Rules for ‘unbundling’
The EU directive requires that the operation of hydrogen transmission and distribution networks should be economically and legally separate from those of the gas network by the principle of unbundling.
But anti-monopoly measures were introduced in the electricity and gas markets when they were fully developed, said EY manager Ľubica Ragulat, who also questioned whether such regulations were necessary for the hydrogen market, which is still developing.
Angyalová, for her part, argued that it makes sense to regulate these activities because Eustream, the transmission system operator in Slovakia, is a natural monopoly. “The question is whether it makes sense in areas more exposed to the market,” she said.
The directive allows for temporary exemptions from unbundling, subject to cost-benefit analyses and impact assessments by regulators or other EU member states.
“I hope that Eustream will get that exemption, allowing the transmission network operator to also manage the future hydrogen network,” Angyalová explained.
Most of the fully developed market measures, including third-party access to the transmission network, are scheduled for 1 January 2033.
Pilot projects
Nafta’s Slavkovská welcomed that, unlike transport, the new legislation on underground gas storage does not require it to be legally and economically separate from hydrogen storage. However, he stresses the importance of setting clear rules and options for pilot projects.
Nafta is still in the research phase, but in the future, it will need green hydrogen to test whether it can be stored in its facilities. Slavkovsk believes it would help if hydrogen could be produced from renewable sources.
The European Commission supports hydrogen plans through IPCEI projects, and in Slovakia, Eustream’s H2 Infrastructure – Transmission Repurpose (H2I-TR) has achieved this status.
This €400-500 million investment aims to repurpose a major gas pipeline for hydrogen transport, making it one of the largest decarbonisation efforts in Slovakia, although Angyalová points out that retrofitting existing infrastructure is much cheaper than building new pipelines, although direct funding remains limited.
(Irena Jenčová, Natália Silenská | Euractiv.sk)
Source: euractiv.com
