On Tuesday, January 18, European Hydrogen Backbone initiative announced receiving six new members expanding its membership base to 29 operators from 27 European countries. The new members include Bulgartransgaz (Bulgaria), Amber Grid (Lithuania), Conexus Baltic Grid (Latvia), Plinacro (Croatia), Gassco (Norway), and REN (Portugal).

All members of the initiative are united in working towards a shared goal of making Europe climate-neutral by investing in the low carbon and renewable hydrogen market. Since its creation in 2020, the EHB has significantly contributed to the European hydrogen market development through its highly publicized flagship EHB maps, promoting a vision of creating a pan-European hydrogen transport network.

Both the network's studies and corresponding maps demonstrate how the vision is economically viable and technically feasible. With the EHB's initiatives widely accepted by key players in the Hydrogen market and policymakers, the initiative's technical inputs got referenced multiple times in the European Commission's hydrogen and decarbonized gas package published in December 2021.

In 2022, the initiative will focus on techno-economic assessment efforts of hydrogen supply corridors. The initiative will also focus on regional cooperation by the infrastructure operators in meeting the goals. At the same time, the group will be engaged in updates, expansion, and digitization of the published maps while revamping the initiative's website to provide effortless access to critical insights.

The European Hydrogen Backbone initiative aims to speed up Europe's decarbonization journey by defining the vital role of hydrogen infrastructure based on new and existing pipelines to enable a liquid and competitive pan-European low carbon and renewable hydrogen market. Moreover, the initiative promotes market competition, demand and supply security, and more cross-border collaborations within and outside the European Union.