"H2 Backbone WAG + Penta-West" envisages the expansion of the West Austria Gas Pipeline as well as the Penta-West Pipeline for hydrogen transport. This could facilitate the transport of hydrogen to and from Slovakia and Germany in the future. As a PCI project, it supports the ambitious energy and climate goals of the European Green Deal, benefiting from accelerated approval and implementation procedures, as well as, under certain conditions, access to European funding from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).

By 2030, more than 200 km of new pipelines will be built and 140 km of the existing pipeline system will be upgraded to provide a bi-directional hydrogen transport capacity of up to 150 GWh/day between Slovakia, Austria and Germany. This will not only support the regional industry but also facilitate connections to future hydrogen storage facilities.

The conversion of the WAG and PW pipelines for hydrogen transport not only creates an important interface for the European hydrogen market, but also contributes to the security of supply of sustainable energy. As part of the Southern Hydrogen Corridor "SoutH2 Corridor", the project will provide a link between North Africa, Italy, Austria and Germany, providing key transport links across Europe.

The SoutH2 Corridor is a hydrogen pipeline corridor currently being developed by European Transmission System Operators (TSOs) Snam (Italy), TAG and GCA (Austria), and bayernets (Germany). It comprises approximately 3,300 km of pipelines and several hundred megawatts of compression capacity, which are intended to become hydrogen facilities by 2030. The development of the SoutH2 Corridor, part of the European Hydrogen Backbone (EHB), will ensure security of supply and is crucial for the development of a connected and diversified hydrogen backbone in Southern and Central Europe. With a hydrogen import capacity of 4 million tonnes per year from North Africa, the corridor could meet over 40% of the total import target set out in the REPowerEU plan.

Gas Connect Austria is confident that the "H2 Backbone WAG + Penta-West" project represents a significant step towards a sustainable hydrogen future and looks forward to working with all partners and stakeholders to successfully implement this ambitious initiative.

For further information on the WAG Loop 1 project, please refer to the link provided.