Spain continues to advance in the development of hydrogen infrastructure. With the last participatory days, scheduled for the next few days in the province of Castellón, the Conceptual Public Participation Plan (PCPP) that Enagás has carried out in 13 autonomous communities, 25 provinces and around 500 municipalities of the Spanish geography through which the 2,600 kilometers of pipelines will run to transport green hydrogen.
This public participation process, which began in April 2025, is the largest of its kind carried out in Spain. Its main task has been to inform with transparency and involve citizens, city councils, public administrations and all those interested parties in a project that will be key to the development of the new energy model in Spain and Europe.
One of the characteristics that provides differential value to this type of consultation process is that it is carried out during an early stage of the project.
This way It is possible to identify opportunities, resolve concerns and incorporate improvements in key aspects to ensure the adequate integration of infrastructures in local environments.
During this process, citizens and civil society have had the opportunity to participate in information sessions in which Enagás has explained the project and the impact that renewable hydrogen will have on the social and economic development of its territories. They have also had information points, a website, an email inbox, among other communication channels. This process has also received institutional and industrial support at the highest level in the different autonomous communities, demonstrating that it is a country project.
The future hydrogen backbone network will lay the foundations for an integrated Spanish market, connecting the main production and consumption areas of renewable hydrogen of the country and with the capacity to meet industrial demand. The Spanish network will connect with cross-border infrastructures such as H2med, the most mature hydrogen corridor in the development phase in Europe, of which BarMar is a part, the interconnection between Barcelona (Spain) and Marseille (France) through an underwater pipeline.
It is planned that the Spanish Backbone Network will be launched between 2030 and 2032 and that around 80% of its route will take advantage of the current gas corridors and around 20% reuse gas pipelines, thus minimizing the environmental and territorial impact.
From an economic perspective, it is estimated that the hydrogen economy generates more than 32,000 million euros of GDP in Spain and contribute to the maintenance of nearly 81,000 jobs during the deployment of said Backbone Network, according to data from the consulting firm PwC.
An infrastructure with European support
The designation of the Backbone Network as a Project of Common Interest (PCI 9.1.3) by the European Commission in 2024 and its subsequent confirmation in 2025 are milestones that reflect the strategic role of this infrastructure. The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) of the European Commission granted 32.5 million euros, 100% of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) funds for the study phase of these first axes of the network.