The aim of Snam, by 2050, is to transport entirely decarbonised gas (not only hydrogen, but also biomethane), helping to strengthen Italy's role as a European hub, with a view to exporting clean energy to Northern Europe. 50% of the approximately €7.4 billion of Snam's 2020-2024 business plan is for the replacement and development of assets to standards that are also compatible with hydrogen. The existing infrastructure, now used for natural gas, can be used to transport hydrogen. There is a recognized international standard (ASME B31.12) which defines the criteria for the compatibility of new and existing steel piping for the transport of hydrogen. RINA, an Italian company leader in international certification, is currently engaged in verifying the compatibility of existing gas lines for the transport of hydrogen. Snam has also adopted new internal regulations for procurement to ensure that all materials for the new sections of the grid can transport, without cost increases, not only natural gas and biomethane, but also, in line with the development of the regulatory framework, increasing hydrogen percentages up to 100%.

In addition to preparing its infrastructure for hydrogen transport and storage, Snam has entered into partnerships with various operators, in compliance with unbundling regulations, to pool their respective expertise and enable the development of the supply chain at Italian and European level. Firstly, the company is working with railway operators (FS Italiane and Ferrovie Nord), traction suppliers (Alstom) and energy/utility suppliers (Eni, A2A and Hera) to develop refuelling infrastructure to make hydrogen mobility by rail possible in Italy.

Snam and Wolftank Hydrogen, a company of the Austrian Wolftank-Adisa Group dedicated to hydrogen and renewable energy production and distribution plants, have started a collaboration aimed at boosting hydrogen mobility through the construction of refuelling stations for cars, buses and trucks.

Snam is also collaborating with players that use their upstream and downstream infrastructure on projects and experiments aimed at using hydrogen to decarbonise certain industrial processes or power generation (Tenaris and Edison), together with RINA and the GIVA Group has launched the first experimentation of using a mix of hydrogen (30%) and natural gas for steel forging globally and is positioning itself in new technologies that could enable the development of hydrogen (ITM Power, De Nora), in particular electrolysers.

The three pillars

In order to guide the energy transition towards a greater use of hydrogen, Snam is acting as a leader carrying out its vision based on three fundamental pillars:

Research and development

As part of international efforts to develop hydrogen, Snam has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Mubadala Investment Company with the aim to collaborate on joint investment and development initiatives on hydrogen and contributed to the establishment of a coalition with six other companies from various countries and sectors (Iberdrola, Orsted, Yara, Envision, ACWA Power and CWP Renewables), opening this up to others in the run-up to COP26. The coalition’s mission is to drive development of new green hydrogen projects globally and to help reduce the associated costs more quickly.

Snam is part of the Clean Hydrogen Alliance launched at European level to support the strategy of the EU Commission that leverages hydrogen to achieve the Green Deal by eliminating net CO2 emissions on the continent by 2050.

The company also participates in numerous institutional and associational tables dedicated to hydrogen at national and international level. At the European level, it is also a member of Hydrogen Europe, while in Italy it is represented in the H2IT category association - Italian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association.

Globally, the company is part of the Hydrogen Council, an initiative launched in 2017 at the World Economic Forum in Davos to create a coalition of leading companies in their respective sectors committed to accelerating investments in hydrogen.

According to a study conducted by Navigant and commissioned by the European Gas for Climate consortium, which also includes Snam, our continent has a hydrogen and biomethane production potential of 270 billion cubic meters by 2050, which would lead to full decarbonisation with economic savings of 217 billion euros per year compared to an energy scenario that does not involve the use of gas. Another research, conducted by Snam in collaboration with McKinsey, showed that hydrogen could meet around a quarter of Italy's final energy consumption by 2050 (up to 22 billion equivalent cubic meters) in a scenario of profound decarbonisation.

As part of the research, Snam also collaborates with the Bruno Kessler Foundation, which develops studies on technologies destined to revolutionize the production of clean hydrogen in the near future, making it an integral part of the long-term solution for a carbon neutral energy system. Finally, the company has signed a research and development agreement with the Polytechnic of Bari to create a prototype of an autonomous energy network based on the use of hydrogen produced from renewable sources.