Tunisia bets on piped hydrogen exports to Europe

Tunisia wants to export renewable hydrogen to Europe via pipeline as early as 2030 and is targeting 6mn t/yr of piped deliveries by 2050.

Tunisia's ministry for industry, mines and energy aims for 320,000 t/yr of renewable hydrogen to be produced by 2030, using nearly 4GW of electrolyser capacity, according to a document summarising the country's yet to be published national hydrogen strategy. Of this output, 300,000 t/yr could be exported to Europe via pipeline, based on the document.

Production is slated to grow steadily to 8.3mn t/yr by 2050 (see table). Pipeline exports could account for over 70pc then, with another 400,000 t/yr to be exported as derivatives via ships and 1.9mn t/yr to be used domestically. Of the domestic consumption, around 1.35mn t/yr is expected to be used directly as hydrogen, including for heat and power generation, transport and refining, while the remainder would be consumed as derivatives.

The strategy document does not specify explicitly to what extent piped exports could be made through an existing natural gas pipeline or whether a new link would have to be built.

Tunisia is linked to Italy via the Transmed pipeline which currently transports natural gas from Algeria. The document notes that "roundtables should be organised between Tunisia, the EU" and the operators of Transmed and domestic Tunisian pipelines. These should also include companies "holding transport capacity" on the existing pipelines "on the basis of multi-year reservations". But the document also sets out "construction" of an export pipeline as one of the targets for 2030.

A dedicated task force will be set up to implement the strategy. The document outlines key steps towards establishing a framework agreement with the EU, focused on aligning regulations, supporting infrastructure build-out and "reducing the financial risk of projects through a guarantee mechanism". It also outlines sets priorities for building a domestic legal framework. These include drawing up a legal definition of green hydrogen, establishing criteria for identifying land for projects and setting safety standards. In special economic zones, project developers "will be able to benefit from tax breaks and administrative simplifications" while the government may also more generally introduce financial incentives and support mechanisms.

By Stefan Krumpelmann