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The SoutH2 Corridor project, which consists of the creation of a gas pipeline A gas pipeline is a pipeline intended for the transport of gaseous materials under pressure, most often hydrocarbons. Depending on their nature of use, gas pipelines can be classified into three main families: 1- gas collection pipelinesbringing gas from deposits or underground storage to processing sites. 2- gas transmission pipeline or transit, transporting treated gas (dehydrated, desulfurized, etc.) under high pressure to the gates of urban areas or industrial consumption sites 3- gas distribution pipelinesdistributing low-pressure gas as close as possible to domestic consumers or small industries. The 3,300 km hydrogen pipeline linking North Africa to Europe was the focus of a high-level meeting held at the headquarters of Sonatrach’s General Management, in the presence of the companies VNG (Germany), Snam (Italy), Sea Corridor (Italy) and Verbund (Austria). This was stated in a Sonatrach press release.
Through the SoutH2 Corridor, the parties plan to supply the European Union with green hydrogen by transporting nearly 4 million tonnes of green hydrogen per year, from Algeria to Germany, via Italy and Austria, either by exploiting existing infrastructures to transport hydrogen or by building new infrastructures.
During this meeting, various presentations and discussions were organized around this ambitious project. The parties agreed to sign, in September 2024, a memorandum of understanding for the joint realization of various studies relating to the implementation of this integrated project along the entire hydrogen value chain, according to the same source.
This meeting was held in the presence of the CEO of Sonatrach Group, Rachid Hachichi, as well as Polk Hans-Joachim, member of the board of directors of VNG, Caria Francesco, CEO of Sea Corridor, Ercoli Piero, executive director at Snam, Susanna Zapreva, director of renewable energies at Verbund, as well as other senior managers and experts.
It is worth noting that the pipeline will originate in Algeria, already the largest producer of natural gas in Africa, in the Hassi R’mel region, where Sonatrach has invested heavily in gas infrastructure.
It will pass through the Algerian city of Hassi Messaoud and then cross Tunisia through the city of Sfax. From there, it will cross the Mediterranean Sea to Italy, before continuing through Austria and Germany.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines had announced, in 2023, a roadmap for the development of hydrogen. According to the same source, this roadmap aims to make Algeria a pioneer country at the regional and international level in the production and marketing of this new energy.
The Department of Energy had specified that “Algeria intends to take advantage of its technical capacities and its competitive advantages to produce and export between 30 and 40 billion kilowatts of gaseous, liquefied and derived hydrogen, and to supply the European market with nearly 10% of its needs by 2040, at very competitive sales prices.”