Supporting the ramp-up with time coordination and analyses
The HIAA companies advocate for the hydrogen ramp-up in Austria and support this goal by coordinating the ambitious timeline and accompanying it with analyses on various focal points: the development of domestic hydrogen demand, the prioritized import corridors, the expansion and use of existing infrastructure to Austria and the regulatory requirements that are still open.
The member companies of the HIAA are specifically addressing three central issues:
- Identification and feasibility of the various hydrogen import corridors
- Orchestration and temporal coordination of the ramp-up along the value chain
- Supporting a long-term supply of competitive hydrogen to secure Austria as an industrial location
Due to the existing network of natural gas pipelines and its historical role as a hub in gas transportation, hydrogen transportation via pipelines is the cheapest and most scalable way to secure supply in Austria.
Diversification of import corridors
The HIAA companies are investigating the most promising export countries and transport routes to Austria and are pushing for connections to potential corridors in order to enable a secure and internationally competitive supply of green hydrogen for Austria.
The analysis is based on criteria such as access to scalable hydrogen production under favorable conditions for wind, photovoltaics, the connection and conversion possibilities of existing infrastructure (especially pipelines) as well as the feasibility and local support (e.g. through hydrogen strategies and local partnerships) for corridor implementation.
Routes that are currently prioritized in terms of diversification & security of supply:
- Southern route: hydrogen production using solar power & onshore wind power in the MENA region, import via Italy
- Northern route: hydrogen production using onshore & offshore wind power in Northern Europe and the North Sea/Baltic Sea, import via Germany
