HIAA: Green Hydrogen for Austria!
Eight leading Austrian energy and industrial companies have joined forces in the Hydrogen Import Alliance Austria (HIAA) to develop a roadmap for the import of green hydrogen. Gas Connect Austria is part of the strategic alliance and contributes its expertise, especially in the area of infrastructure.
Green hydrogen is of key importance for securing Austria as a business location and for the decarbonisation of industry. However, domestic production of green hydrogen will not be sufficient to meet the growing demand in the coming years. The Hydrogen Import Alliance Austria (HIAA) was founded to create attractive conditions for the import of green hydrogen. Gas Connect Austria is a proud member of this initiative – together with AMAG Austria Metall, LAT Nitrogen, OMV, RHI Magnesita, VERBUND, voestalpine and Wiener Stadtwerke. AGGM and TAG GmbH are also HIAA partners. The members of HIAA are pooling their know-how from different parts of the H2 value chain to develop a strategic roadmap for the import of green hydrogen to Austria at competitive conditions.
Infrastructure as the key to building the hydrogen economy
The goal of the HIAA members is to enable the import of hydrogen via pipelines to Austria by 2030 and to ensure a competitive supply for the industry. To this end, HIAA members are investigating promising transport routes to Austria and pushing for connections to potential corridors. Due to the existing natural gas pipeline network and Austria’s historical role as a gas transport hub, hydrogen transport via existing pipelines is the cheapest and most scalable way to secure domestic supply.
Stefan Wagenhofer, Managing Director of Gas Connect Austria, at the HIAA press conference on 2 July, said:
Austria has a safe and efficient pipeline network, parts of which already allow the transport of hydrogen.
“With targeted investments in infrastructure, our country could act as a central hub in the emerging European hydrogen backbone. In doing so, we are laying the foundation for an affordable, reliable and sustainable energy supply of the future,”
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