German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have held a press conference announcing their support of the construction of a pipeline between their two countries, which could transport both hydrogen and natural gas.

The energy ministries of Italy, Germany and Austria had in May already signed a letter of support for the SoutH2 Corridor pipeline, which would stretch 3,300 km, between North Africa and the three EU countries, and together, the three will seek to have the project achieve European Union Project of Common Interest status on the basis of environmental and security grounds, which would mean EU funding and faster permitting.

Italy’s Snam, Austria’s Trans Austria Gasleitung and Gas Connect Austria, and Germany’s bayernets are all part of the SoutH2 Corridor project, as is Sea Corridor, the joint venture between Snam and Eni which operates the pipelines that already connect North Africa to Italy. The proposed pipeline would have a capacity of 4 million tonnes per annum, around 40% of the EU import target for 2030, the year that the proponents are targeting for the commencement of operation.

In the words of the project website, the initiative “is centred around the utilisation of existing repurposed midstream infrastructure to transport hydrogen, with the inclusion of some new dedicated infrastructure where necessary”. It is not clear if the pipeline would be capable of transporting 100% hydrogen.