Regulatory News

Brussels, 16 September 2020

Cenergy Holdings has signed the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance declaration, as an integral part of its strategy for sustainable growth in balance with the Paris Climate Agreement, the UN Sustainability Goals and the EU Green Deal.

Being at the forefront of technological innovation, Cenergy Holdings companies lead the way in R&D initiatives for hydrogen transportation through existing or new energy networks, develop the technology and the new products that can bring the hydrogen era closer to the realization of a decarbonized clean energy future.

The Alliance aims at an ambitious deployment of hydrogen technologies by 2030, bringing together renewable and low-carbon hydrogen production, demand in industry, mobility and other sectors, and hydrogen transmission and distribution. With the alliance, EU wants to build its global leadership in this domain, to support the EU’s commitment to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 (1).

Cenergy Holdings Hydrogen pathway

Cenergy Holdings companies, Corinth Pipeworks and Hellenic Cables, operate in the energy markets and have successfully implemented projects all over the world over decades. Being in the forefront of technology and innovation is an integral part of their strategy. We aim to grow sustainably, through the development of our knowledge to deliver enhanced technical solutions to our customers. We follow up the hydrogen developments some years now, because we strongly believe that hydrogen is key in meeting climate targets. The hydrogen strategy is based on two main pillars:

Research & Development

Cenergy Holding companies, Corinth Pipeworks and Hellenic Cables, are active in the transportation of energy. More specifically, Corinth Pipeworks is a leading steel pipe manufacturer for the energy sector and is the first steel pipe manufacturer worldwide to sign the Hydrogen Alliance. This comes as a recognition of the importance of hydrogen to a greener future and confirms its position as a market leader. Natural Gas pipelines – existing and new infrastructure – are expected to be mainly utilized for the transportation of hydrogen from the H2 production facilities to the main consumption sites. Big scale electrolysis plants are expected to be located near the shore to be able to take advantage of the limitless offshore wind energy or vast solar parks and achieve competitive LCOE (Levelized Cost of Energy). Corinth Pipeworks’ main focus of research is the secure transportation of hydrogen as natural gas mixture or in pure form through high pressure steel grade pipelines and the certification of the pipeline network for H2-transport compliance. An extensive campaign of tests in specialized laboratories is in progress in cooperation with international TSOs. The accumulated know-how and proven materials performance shall contribute the most in exploiting a large infrastructure to accommodate hydrogen and achieve a greener future.

Hellenic Cables is a leading provider of land and submarine cable solutions that enable the energy transition around the world. Our products and services are integral parts of onshore and subsea interconnectors, offshore wind and other renewable energy projects. In line with this mission, Hellenic Cables also develops solutions to seamlessly integrate hydrogen into the energy infrastructure. In cooperation with leading European Universities and industrial partners, Hellenic Cables contributes to the development of the necessary innovative products to bring the hydrogen era closer.

Standardization & Regulations

Large-scale use of hydrogen as a clean energy solution requires the cooperation of national technical authorities, universities, standardization bodies and market leaders to develop and create new regulations, technical specifications in order to secure the smooth and seamless introduction of hydrogen in the energy mix. Hundreds of projects worldwide extend the research in scaling up hydrogen, next generation electrolysers, offshore hydrogen production, blending hydrogen in gas network, use of hydrogen in heating and transportation, health and safety systems etc. Cenergy Holdings companies contribute their expertise in this important task that will create the basis for the transition to a hydrogen economy.

European Clean Hydrogen Alliance

Contribute to a greener future

Hydrogen is a key enabler to achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal and Europe’s clean energy transition. Hydrogen has several energy and non-energy uses, from storing renewable energy to fueling heavy transport, and as energy and feedstock in energy-intensive industry, such as in the steel or chemical sectors.

Most importantly, hydrogen is climate friendly as it does not emit any carbon dioxide when used. It thus offers a solution to decarbonize industrial processes and economic sectors where reducing carbon emissions is both urgent and hard to achieve.

What does the alliance do?

The alliance will establish an investment agenda and support the scaling up of the hydrogen value chain across Europe. The alliance will play a crucial role in facilitating and implementing the actions of the new European hydrogen strategy and in particular its investment agenda. An industry blueprint estimates investment of €430 billion until 2030.

The alliance should support scaling up production and demand for renewable and low-carbon hydrogen, coordinate action, and provide a broad forum to engage civil society.

Valuable members of the alliance are E.ON, EDP, Elering, Enagas, Engie, Fluxys, Gaz System, Gascade, GRTgaz, Iberdrola, RWE, Shell, Siemens Energy, Snam, Total, Vattenfall AB etc.

Alliance’s Objectives

Working towards the objective of climate-neutrality in the EU by 2050, the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance aims at developing and deploying hydrogen as a viable energy carrier in Europe that is globally competitive.

The European Clean Hydrogen Alliance provides a forum that coordinates and maximises the impact of joint actions and projects by engaging all stakeholders in the hydrogen value chain, including industrial key players, Member States and regions, trade unions, civil society, innovators, research and technology organisations, investors and NGOs.

About Cenergy Holdings

Cenergy Holdings is a Belgian holding company listed on both Euronext Brussels and Athens Stock Exchange, investing in leading industrial companies, focusing on the growing global demand of energy transfer, renewables and data transmission. The Cenergy Holdings portfolio consists of Corinth Pipeworks and Hellenic Cables, companies positioned at the forefront of their respective high growth sectors. Corinth Pipeworks is a world leader in steel pipe manufacturing for the oil and gas sector and major producer of steel hollow sections for the construction sector. Hellenic Cables is one of the largest cable producers in Europe, manufacturing power and telecom cables as well as submarine cables for the aforementioned sectors. For more information about our company, please visit our website at www.cenergyholdings.com.