可持續(xù)發(fā)展與國際關(guān)系研究所-法國的氫能戰(zhàn)略：專注于國內(nèi)氫能生產(chǎn)使工業(yè)和交通脫碳（英）

RIFSDISCUSSIONPAPERResearchInstitute

forSustainability(RIFS)Potsdam,June

2023France’sHydrogenStrategyFocusing

on

Domestic

Hydrogen

Production

toDecarboniseIndustryand

MobilityInesBouacidaPart

ofa

series

editedby

Yana

Zabanova

andRainerQuitzowFrance’s

Hydrogen

Strategy:

Focusing

on

Domestic

Hydrogen

Production

to

Decarbonise

Industry

andMobilitySummaryFrance

was

one

of

the

European

frontrunners

in

formulating

policies

to

develop

hydrogen

for

decar-bonisation,

publishing

its

first

hydrogen

plan

in

2018,

followed

by

a

larger,

€9-billion

plan

in

2020,hot

onthe

heels

of

plans

released

by

the

European

Commission

andGermany.

The

French

strategy

forhydrogen

deployment

focuses

inparticularonapplicationswherehydrogen

iskeyfordeep

decarbon-isation,

including

refineries

and

the

chemical

industry

as

well

as

steel

production,

and

the

mobilitysector.

Thecountry

aims

to

havea

headstart

on

European

andworldcompetitors

thanks

to

largeelec-tricityresourcesfromtheexistingnuclearfleetand

by

buildingnew

nuclearcapacity.Additionally,itrelies

on

several

existing

innovation

hubs

specialised

in

hydrogen,

as

well

as

the

support

of

many

localgovernmentsinvolvedinhydrogendevelopmentand

arelativelystructured

hydrogenindustry.The

French

strategy

for

hydrogen

does

not

include

ambitions

at

the

international

level

beyond

scien-tific

and

technological

cooperation

within

the

European

Union.

The

political

priority

is

to

develop

adomestic

industry

sized

to

meet

national

demand,

which

is

seen

as

a

more

secure

sourcing

strategythan

relying

on

imports.

This

comes

in

contrast

with

the

positions

of

France’s

neighbours,

notablySpain,Portugal

and

Germany,

whicharepushingtoenablecross-bordertradeofhydrogen

as

earlyaspossible.

This

situation

has

generated

political

tensions

within

the

European

Union

and

in

particularintheFranco-Germanrelationship.This

Discussion

Paper

is

part

of

a

series

of

case

studieson

hydrogen

strategies

in

European

and

global

front-runnercountries.

The

Discussion

Paper

seriesis

beingedited

by

Yana

Zabanova

and

Rainer

Quitzow

as

partof

the

project

“Geopolitics

of

the

Energy

Transfor-mation:

Implications

of

an

International

HydrogenEconomy”(GET

Hydrogen).

In

the

context

of

thepro-ject,thepaperhas

benefited

from

the

financial

supportof

theGermanFederalForeign

Office.RIFSDiscussion

Paper_2France’s

Hydrogen

Strategy:

Focusing

on

Domestic

Hydrogen

Production

to

Decarbonise

Industry

andMobilityContents1.2.3.4.Introduction457The

Frenchhydrogeneconomy

todayThe

roleof

hydrogen

in

French

climateandenergypolicyHydrogen

strategiesinFrance:

main

objectivesandimplementation94.1

Three

governmentpriorities

for2030andseveralFrenchcompanies’strategies94.2

Strategies

formulatedbyFrench

regions4.3

Elements

on

infrastructureandcross-bordertrade11115.Externaldimensions

of

hydrogendevelopment

inFrance

125.1

FavourabletechnicalandpoliticalconditionsforFranceto

becomea

hydrogenexporterandaEuropean

hub

125.2

InternationalperspectivesinFrenchpolicyplans5.3

French

hydrogendiplomacy

atthe

EUlevel5.4

French

diplomacyon

theinternational

stage1213156.7.8.Conclusion161722LiteratureAboutthe

authorRIFSDiscussion

Paper_3France’s

Hydrogen

Strategy:

Focusing

on

Domestic

Hydrogen

Production

to

Decarbonise

Industry

andMobility1.

IntroductionFrance

has

been

one

of

the

leading

EU

Member

States

in

hydrogen

development,

publishing

its

firsthydrogen

strategy

in

2018

in

the

midst

of

policy

discussions

on

the

future

of

the

power

sector.

Thisinitial

strategy

formed

the

foundation

of

a

more

ambitious,

€9-billion

hydrogen

strategy

adopted

in2020.

Hydrogen

technologies

are

considered

a

key

driver

for

the

decarbonisation

of

the

industry

andtransportsectorsaswellas

abuildingblockto

(re)buildFrance’sindustrialcompetitiveness.This

case

study

explores

key

characteristics

of

French

national

hydrogen

policy,

the

factors

influencingFrench

engagement

in

international

hydrogen

trade,

and

the

external

dimensions

of

Frenchhydrogendevelopment.

While

France

hasambitious

plansfor

the

developmentof

anationalhydrogen

industryand

can

count

on

the

support

of

regional

governments,

its

lack

of

political

enthusiasm

for

hydrogenimports

sets

it

at

odds

with

many

of

its

European

partners.

Despite

that,

France

is

involved

in

hydrogendiplomacy

bothattheEuropeanandgloballevels.2023

should

bring

updates

to

the

policy

framework

for

hydrogen

in

France,

with

a

revision

of

the

2020hydrogen

strategy

and

of

the

2028

and

2050

energy

and

climate

planning

reference

documents

(Multi-Annual

Energy

Planning

and

Low-Carbon

National

Strategy).

These

processes

could

further

clarifytheroleofhydrogenin

theFrenchenergytransitionandsectoralimplementationtargets.RIFSDiscussion

Paper_4France’s

Hydrogen

Strategy:

Focusing

on

Domestic

Hydrogen

Production

to

Decarbonise

Industry

andMobility2.

TheFrenchhydrogeneconomy

todayIn

2019,

France

produced

around

800

kt

of

hydrogen

(approx.

26

TWh),

including

about

half

as

a

sideproduct

from

other

industrial

processes

and

half

as

dedicated

production,

which

makes

it

the

sixthlargest

producer

ofhydrogen

inEurope

(it

neither

imports

nor

exports

hydrogen).

Hydrogen

is

mainlyused

for

refineries

(almost

half)

and

for

ammonia

production

(one

third)

(see

Figure

1).

Dedicatedhydrogen

production

onlyrelies

on

steam

methane

reforming

(SMR)

using

natural

gas

(AFHYPAC

etal.,2020).Figure1.HydrogenproductionandconsumptioninFrancein2019.Source:AFHYPACet

al.

(2020),

drawingonHinicio&EY,2020.

Reproduced

withpermission(slightlymodified).Additionally,

the

impulse

to

develop

“decarbonised”

hydrogen

in

2020

built

on

a

previous

plan

from2018

(MTES,

2018).

Although

the

spending

did

not

exceed

€100

million

(Ministère

de

l’économie,2020),

it

enabled

the

development

of

11

mobility

projects

and

five

industrial

projects

using

locally-producedhydrogen(ADEME,2019,2020).The

2018

strategy

had

two

aims:

first,

to

decarbonise

existing

uses

of

hydrogen

in

the

industry,

startingwith

those

close

to

commercial

viability

(refineries,

ammonia);

and

second,

to

develop

hydrogen

inmobility

as

a

“complement”

to

battery

electric

mobility

(in

heavy

road

transport

-

especially

at

theRIFSDiscussion

Paper_5France’s

Hydrogen

Strategy:

Focusing

on

Domestic

Hydrogen

Production

to

Decarbonise

Industry

andMobilitylocal

level

-

as

well

as

in

shipping

and

aviation).

It

also

mentioned

eventually

using

hydrogen

as

systemstorage

to

replace

natural

gas

and

to

store

variable

renewable

electricity,

subject

to

the

findings

offurther

research.

The

objective

was

to

reach

10

per

cent

of

“decarbonised”

hydrogen

in

the

industryby

2023

and

20-40

perc

ent

by

2028.

Modest

targets

for

the

transport

sector

were

also

formulated:5000

light-dutyvehiclesby2023;although

atthe

end

of2022,

onlyaround500suchvehicles

wereinservice(FranceHydrogène,2022).France’s

commitment

to

funding

researchandinnovationprojectsaround

hydrogen

over

thepast

dec-ades

has

made

theParis

region

one

of

the

10

leading

global

hydrogen

innovation

clusters

according

toan

IEA

ranking).

It

is

the

top

European

cluster

on

the

list,

ranking

highest

after

several

Japanese

andUS

zones

and

before

German

ones.

France

is

also

one

of

the

world

leaders

in

hydrogen

patenting,

with6

per

cent

of

all

hydrogen-related

international

patent

families

originating

in

the

country

(IEA

&

Eu-ropean

Patent

Office,

2023).

Several

French

private

actors

are

world

leaders,

including

Air

Liquide(the

world’s

second-largest

producer

of

hydrogen),

EDF

(a

world

leader

in

electricity

technologies),Alstom(companywiththefirstcommercialhydrogenfuelcell-poweredpassengertraininoperation)andMcPhy(a

leadingproducerofalkaline

electrolysers).RIFSDiscussion

Paper_6France’s

Hydrogen

Strategy:

Focusing

on

Domestic

Hydrogen

Production

to

Decarbonise

Industry

andMobility3.

Theroleof

hydrogeninFrenchclimateand

energypolicyToday,theFrenchpowersystemhassurplus1,low-emissionpowergenerationcapacity,partly

thankstoitslargenuclear

fleet

(about

60GW),

despite

reducedavailabilityin

the

past

two

winters

and

inthenext

due

to

regular

planned

maintenance,

unforeseen

technical

defects,

and

the

ageing

of

the

fleet(RTE,2021a,2023).Accordingtothelastpower-systemplanningpoliticalannouncements

andlong-termscenarios

by

the

electricity

transmissionsystemoperatorRTE,

the

power

systemcould

stillhavelarge

volumes

of

surplus,

low-emission

electricity

in

the

longer

term,

using

both

nuclear

and

renewablegeneration

capacity,

depending

on

actual

implementation

(Elysée,

2022c;

RTE,

2021b).

The

FrenchPresident

of

theRepublic

EmmanuelMacron

announcedin

early

2022

that

the

state

would

order6

to14

new

Evolutionary

Power

Reactors

(EPRs),

although

that

has

not

been

translated

into

concrete

fi-nancialcommitmentswithacleartimelineyet.Ontheotherhand,

France

has

a

large

windandsolarenergy

productionpotential

(WorldBankGroupet

al.,

2023)

but

the

uptake

of

renewable

electricity

installation

in

recent

years

has

been

relatively

slowcompared

to

both

other

European

countries

and

its

own

policy

objectives.

The

share

of

renewableenergy

in

the

final

energy

supply

was

only

19.3

per

cent

in

2021,

falling

significantly

short

of

the

2020target

of

23

per

cent

-

mostly

due

to

the

delay

in

the

renewable

heat

sector

(SDES,

2022).

Franceinstalled

2

GW

of

wind

power

capacity

in

2022,

while

Germany

installed

7

GW.

Further

renewablebuildout

faces

barriers

such

as

slow

administrative

procedures,

strong

local

opposition

to

onshore

windand

solar

panels,

insufficient

cooperation

between

national

and

regional

level

(IEA,

2022a).

Giventhat

several

studies

have

shown

that

the

cheapest

hydrogen

is

produced

from

renewables,

the

slownessof

renewable

energy

deployment

mighthinder

hydrogendevelopment

in

France

(Bouacida&

Bergh-mans,2022).Hydrogen

features

in

existing

energy

and

climate

policy

plans,

but

because

these

plans

were

formu-lated

before

the

2020

hydrogen

strategy,itsroleis

smaller

than

what

therecent

hydrogenstrategy

andpolitical

announcements

suggest.

French

climate

policy

is

laid

out

in

the2020

National

Low-CarbonStrategy

(in

French,

SNBC),

which

defines

a

pathway

to

climate

neutrality

by

2050,

and

the

2020Multi-Annual

Energy

Programming

Law

(in

French,

PPE),

which

represents

the

legal

basis

for

theimplementation

of

energy

transition

targets

until

2028.

The

Ministry

for

the

Energy

Transition

hasannounced

revisions

of

the

latter

in

a

new

Energy

and

Climate

Planning

Law

to

bepresented

by

fall2023(Gouvernementfran?ais,

2023).The2023revisions

ofFrench

climate

policy

should

include

recent

agreements

toincrease

ambition

attheEuropean

level.

Inparticular,

the

EU's

revised

Renewable

Energy

Directive

(REDIII)2

would

settargets

for

the

incorporation

of

renewable

hydrogen

and

derived

fuels

(so-called

Renewable

Fuels

ofNon-Biological

Origin,

or

RFNBOs)intheindustry

(42

per

cent

by

2030,

60

percent

by

2035)

andinthetransportsector(acombinedtargetof5.5percentadvancedbiofuelsandRFNBOsby

2030).1

Inotherwords,generationcapacitystructurally

exceeds

nationalconsumption.2

At

the

timeof

publication,

REDIII

was

notadoptedyet.RIFSDiscussion

Paper_7France’s

Hydrogen

Strategy:

Focusing

on

Domestic

Hydrogen

Production

to

Decarbonise

Industry

andMobilityLastly,achievingenergy

independencehaslong

been

aprominentfeature

inenergy

policyandstill

isa

core

objective

of

long-term

climate

and

energy

policy

and

political

discourse

(Andriosopoulos

&Silvestre,

2017;

Elysée,

2022c;

MTES,

2019).

In

practice,

French

energy

import

dependency

is

rela-tively

high

at

45

per

cent,

although

it

is

still

below

the

EU

average

(55

per

cent).

Additionally,

politicaldiscourseby

thecurrent

Presidentof

theRepublichassuggested

thatFranceshouldaspireto

technol-ogy

leadership

in

green

technologies

in

order

to

achieve

“industrial

sovereignty”,

meaning

to

maintainindustrial

jobs

and

gain

economic

competitiveness

(Elysée,2021,

2022b,

2022c).

This

dual

narrativehas

played

in

favour

of

the

development

of

hydrogen

technologies

as

well

as

nuclear

power

whichwould

provide

the

needed

“l(fā)ow-carbon”

electricity

for

hydrogen

production.

In

practice,

the

govern-ment

has

launchedFrance

2030,a

€54

bn,

5-year

investment

planaimingatdevelopingkeytechnolo-gies

for

competitiveness

and

decarbonisation,

including

for

hydrogen

(Ministère

de

l’Economie,2022),

and

is

drafting

a

Green

Industry

Law

aiming

to

make

France

a

technological

leader,

as

a

re-sponsetotheAmerican

InflationReductionAct

(Ministèredel’Economie,2022,

2023).RIFSDiscussion

Paper_8France’s

Hydrogen

Strategy:

Focusing

on

Domestic

Hydrogen

Production

to

Decarbonise

Industry

andMobility4.

Hydrogen

strategies

inFrance:

mainobjectivesandimplementation4.1Three

government

priorities

for

2030

and

several

French

compa-nies’

strategiesThe

French

hydrogen

strategy

was

published

in

September

2020

and

features

three

priorities:

decar-bonise

the

industry,

develop

hydrogen

mobility

for

professional

uses,

and

support

research,

innovationand

capacity

building.

It

initially

earmarked

€7.2

bn

until

2030,

including

€2

bn

from

the

recoveryplanlaunchedin2020.One

year

later,

the

hydrogen

plan

received

an

additional

€1.9

bn

from

the

France

2030

plan,

including€1.7bndedicatedto

financingImportantProjectsofCommonEuropeanInterest(IPCEI).IPCEIsarelarge

transnational

innovation

and

infrastructure

projects

that,

upon

approval

by

the

European

Com-mission,becomeeligiblefor

state

aids

from

Member

States.

The

breakdown

ofthe

initial€7.2bn

forhydrogenisshowninFigure2;thedetailsofFrance2030’sbudgetareunknown.Figure2.BreakdownoftheFrenchhydrogen

strategybudgetfor

2020-2030(7.2billionEUR)Source:

Ministère

de

la

Transition

Ecologique

(2021).

Reproduced

with

permission

(slightly

modi-fied).RIFSDiscussion

Paper_9France’s

Hydrogen

Strategy:

Focusing

on

Domestic

Hydrogen

Production

to

Decarbonise

Industry

andMobilityAlthough

the

2020

French

hydrogen

strategy

mobilises

far

more

financial

resources

than

its

2018counterpart

(€9.1

bn

combined

v.

€100M),

the

political

priorities

are

similar.

The

strategy

takes

acautious

approach

with

respect

to

the

end

uses

of

hydrogen

and

focuses

on

decarbonising

existing

usesof

fossil

hydrogen

in

industry

(refineries

and

ammonia),

with

mobility

applications

(mainly

heavy-and

light-duty

vehicles)

coming

second.

Part

of

the

funding

isdirected

to

research

and

innovation

intopotentialotherhydrogen

uses.

Some

end-usesfrequently

featured

inotherEuropeanhydrogen

strate-gies,such

as

heat

in

buildings

and

passengercars,arenot

mentioned.

Aviationand

maritimetransportarementionedwithintheinnovationstrategyforhydrogen.In

the

existing

SNBC,

hydrogen

from

electrolysis

is

developed

up

to

40

TWh

by

2050,

which

is

slightlymore

than

current

hydrogen

consumption

in

France.

It

is

only

produced

domestically,

and

it

is

usedmostly

in

industry

(20

TWh

by

2050),

followed

by

the

power

sector

(15

TWh).

Little

indication

isavailable

regarding

hydrogen

uses

by

sub-sector.

The

consumption

of

electrolytic

hydrogen

happensfor

the

largest

part

after

2030

(MTES,

2019).

The

PPE’s

main

objectives

for

hydrogen

are

that

20

to40

per

cent

of

hydrogen

used

in

industry

is

renewable

by

2028,

as

well

as

the

deployment

ofhydrogenlight-

and

heavy-duty

road

vehicles,

namely

up

to

50

000

light-duty

vehicles

and

up

to

2000

heavy-duty

vehicles

by

2028,

although

targets

for

the

latter

are

quite

modest

compared

to

the

size

of

thewholefleet(MTES,

2020).French

hydrogen

policy

only

mentions

electrolysis

to

produce

hydrogen,

so

far

excluding

fossil-basedhydrogen

production

combined

with

carbon

capture

and

storage.

Government

policies

have

since

2020focused

on

“decarbonised”

hydrogen,

a

term

that

refers

to

hydrogen

produced

using

electrolysis,

eitherfrom

nuclear

or

renewable

electricity.

The

2020

strategy

sets

a

6.5

GW

electrolyser

target

for

2030,which

has

not

been

updated

since.

So

far,

the

French

electrolyser

project

pipeline

is

quite

advanced,witharoundtwodozen

projects

at

the

final

investment

decision(FID)stage

or

beyond,

althoughmostprojectsarestillsmall-scaleat

under

1MW

(IEA,

2022b).Francealso

aims

to

controlotherpartsof

thehydrogensupply

chain:in

2022,theFrenchPrimeMin-ister

announced

co-financing

for

ten

“gigafactories”

for

the

production

of

electrolysers

by

2030,

ofwhich

one

wasalready

approved

by

the

European

Commission,aswell

as

factoriesfor

fuelcellsandotherhydrogenequipment.Implementation

of

these

strategic

priorities

has

been

relatively

slow,

however.

So

far,

only

a

small

partof

the

budget

has

been

disbursed

and

much

of

this

spending

has

been

directed

at

the

mobility

sector(in

particular

urban

vehicles)

and

renewable

hydrogen

production

(ADEME,

2019;

Ministère

de

laTransitionénergétique,

2023).

A

€4

bn

contracts-for-difference

schemefor

electrolytic

hydrogen

pro-ductionisexpectedtoberolled

outin2023.Following

the

publication

of

the

French

government

strategy,

Engie,

a

partly

state-owned

gas

utility,and

EDF,

the

predominantly

state-owned

electricity

utility,

have

also

formulated

global

hydrogenstrategies.

Though

their

objectives

are

relatively

vague,

they

seem

to

align

with

government

objectives.For

example,

Engie

aims

to

develop

4

GW

of

renewable

electrolysis,

700

km

of

dedicated

hydrogenpipelines,and1TWhofstorageworldwideby2030(EngieHydrogène,2020).EDF,

whichownstheentire

French

nuclear

fleet

and

is

set

to

become

entirely

state-owned

by

summer

2023,

aims

to

promote“l(fā)ow-carbon”

hydrogen,

including

both

nuclear-

and

renewables-based

hydrogen

production.

It

aimsto

install

3

GWofelectrolysis

capacity

by

2030

foruses

matching

those

specified

in

the

governmentstrategy

of

2020(light-duty

vehicles,existing

industrial

uses,

synthetic

fuels,

and,in

the

longer

term,powerproduction)(EDF,

2022).RIFSDiscussion

Paper_10France’s

Hydrogen

Strategy:

Focusing

on

Domestic

Hydrogen

Production

to

Decarbonise

Industry

andMobility4.2StrategiesformulatedbyFrench

regionsIn

addition

to

the

national

strategy,

many

regional-level

strategies

have

been

formulated,

with

mostregions

developing

a

roadmap

or

strategy

in

the

course

of

2020.

French

regions

do

not

have

compe-tence

regarding

energy

planning,

and

the

funding

they

can

dedicate

to

hydrogen

development

is

lim-ited.

However,

their

portfolio

of

competences

includes

regional

transport,

regional

economicdevelopment,and

spatialplanning,allofwhichcouldplaya

roleinhydrogen

development.The

priorities

set

by

regions

are

quite

consistent

with

national

goals,

with

a

stronger

emphasis

on

thetransport

sector.

In

somecases,however,

theyalsoseekto

encourage

non-priority

uses

not

mentionedin

the

national

strategy,

such

as

in

buildings

(Région

Pays

de

la

Loire,

2020).

Hydrogen

is

seen

asatool

for

job

creation

in

local

industrial

ecosystems

and

for

implementing

climate

action.

In

Brittany,which

is

heavily

dependent

on

energy

imports

from

other

French

regions,

hydrogen

has

been

identifiedas

ameans

toenhanceenergyautonomy(RégionBretagne,

2020).Other

regions

are

keen

to

position

themselves

on

the

international

hydrogen

market,

such

as

the

GrandEst

Region,

which

shares

borders

with

Belgium,

Luxembourg,

Germany

and

Switzerland,

and

thePACA

Region,

which

has

strong

commercial

links

with

the

Mediterranean

region

(Région

Bretagne,2020;

Région

PACA,

2020).

The

Grand

Est

region

was

a

key

stakeholder

in

the

mosaHYc

project,

across-border

hydrogen

infrastructure

project

in

the

Saar-Lorraine-Luxembourg

region

(GRTgaz

&CREOS,

2020).Regions

were

also

essential

in

starting

the

first

hydrogen

projects,

including

the

?le-de-France

region(surrounding

Paris),

the

Rh?ne

Valley,

the

southwest

area

(including

Toulouse

and

Bordeaux,

on

theborder

with

Spain),

the

Dunkerque

area

(close

to

Belgium),

the

Rhine

area

(on

the

border

with

Ger-many)

(IEA

&

European

Patent

Office,

2023).

Regional

stakeholders,

including

regional

governmentsand

small

and

medium-sized

enterprises

will

remain

key

in

the

implementation

of

nationalhydrogengoals.4.3Elements

oninfrastructureandcross-border

tradeTheFrench

visionfor

pure

hydrogen

infrastructure

differsslightly

fromthat

ofmany

other

EU

Mem-berStates,duetodifferentnationalfeatures.The

French

2020

strategy

is

cautious

when

it

comes

to

the

topic

of

transport

infrastructure

buildout,onlyhighlightingthe

needtosupport

researchandinnovationto

prepare

for

the

“hydrogen

infrastruc-ture

of

tomorrow”

(MTE,

2020).

This

is

consistent

with

the

focus

on

industry

hubs

and

commercialmobility

and

on

domestic

production,

while

many

other

countries

also

aim

to

develop

other

uses

orimportssuchasGermanyand

theNetherlands(BMWi,2020;MEZK,2020).The

2020

national

strategy

does

not

envision

cross-border

trade

of

hydrogen

or

derivatives

and

thispositionhas

not

been

reconsideredsince.

In

view

of

the

spatial

concentration

of

industrial

uses,large-scale

pipeline

infrastructure

will

not

be

needed

(Agora

Energiewende

&

AFRY

Management

Consult-ing,2021;Bouacida,Wachsmuth,etal.,2022).However,

the

French

position

on

infrastructure

and

cross-border

hydrogen

trade

could

shift

towardsmore

government

support

for

infrastructure

connections

beyond

industrialclustersin

the

2023updateof

the

strategy,

which

isexpected

to

informupdatesof

keyFrench

climate

policy

documents

in

2023(see

section

1).

French

electricity

and

gas

network

operators

as

well

as

the

hydrogen

industry

haveexplored

the

technical

and

industrial

possibilities

around

importing

hydrogen

products

in

several

stud-ies(Amber

Grid

et

al.,2022;RTE,2022).

Francehasalso

agreed

to“H2Med”,

apipelineconnectingBarcelonatoMarseilleandconnectingtoGermany

(El