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Picture courtesy of GAZ-SYSTEM

4 Project maturity status
and infrastructure levels

4.1 Project maturity status

Depending on their level of maturity, hydrogen ­projects are categorised along different status. In ­TYNDP 2024 there are three different project ­maturity ­status: FID1, Advanced and Less-­Advanced. Each project maturity status is directly derived from the information provided by its promoter and ­according to the rules set in the ­ENTSOG GPI ­document:

1 FID: Final Investment Decision

  • The FID status is applied to projects that, based on the information submitted,
    • have taken the final investment decision ahead of the closure of ­TYNDP 2024 project collection.

Projects with FID status are identified in TYNDP project code with an F (e. g., H2T-F-000)

  • The Advanced status is applied to projects that, based on the information submitted, have:
    • commissioning expected at the latest by 31 ­December 2029
    • AND the project fulfils at least one of the following criteria:
      • Project is included in the national development plan(s) (NDP) or in the national law of the respective country(ies)
      • Project has successfully consulted the
        market through a market test (including non-binding processes)

Hydrogen projects with Advanced status are identified in TYNDP project code with an A (e. g., H2T-A-000).

  • All hydrogen projects which do not meet the criteria of having FID or Advanced status are considered as having the Less-­Advanced ­status.2

Projects with Less-Advanced status are identified in TYNDP project code with an N (e. g., H2T-N-000).

2 Less advanced projects are considered as important input for the TYNDP assessments. One reason is that Annex III.2 (1)(d) of the TEN-E Regulation in principle allows less advanced projects to become a PCI or PMI. Due to Annex III.2 (4) of the TEN-E Regulation, being part of the latest ENTSOG TYNDP is thereby a requirement to become a PCI or PMI for hydrogen projects falling under the categories listed in Annex II (3) of the TEN-E Regulation. In order not to unduly restrict such less mature projects from receiving a PCI or PMI status, they must also be collected for the TYNDP.

Similarly, in ­TYNDP 2024 natural gas or other projects were categorised following their maturity status. The FID status has the same definition as for hydrogen projects, while the Advanced status for natural gas infrastructure is restricted to projects that, based on the information submitted, have:

  • commissioning expected at the latest by 31 ­December 2029
  • AND the project fulfils at least one of the following criteria:
    • Permitting phase has started ahead of the ­TYNDP 2024 Project Collection
    • Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) has been completed ahead of the ­TYNDP project data collection

Based on past ­TYNDP process experiences and the recommendations expressed by ACER in their Opinions, the Advanced status was already introduced in the 2017 edition and allows to better reflect the different project maturities. This status was defined in close cooperation with ACER and the European Commission, and in consultation with stakeholders.

All natural gas projects which do not meet the criteria of having FID or Advanced status are considered as having the Less-Advanced status.

Additionally, the PCI/PMI status is assigned to a project which is part of the Union list of PCIs and PMIs as detailed in section B of the Annex VII to the TEN-E Regulation, irrespective of the above-mentioned project maturity status.

4.2 Infrastructure levels

Infrastructure levels are defined as the potential level of development of the European hydrogen network, electricity network, or natural gas network.

An infrastructure level represents the complete set of infrastructure elements assumed to be in place along the considered analysis time horizon.

4.2.1 Hydrogen infrastructure levels

There are two hydrogen infrastructure levels (see Figure 2):

  • A PCI/PMI hydrogen infrastructure level consisting of:
    • Existing hydrogen infrastructure which refers to hydrogen infrastructure that is operational at the time of the ­TYNDP 2024 Project Collection as well as projects that acquired the final investment decision (FID) ahead of the relevant ­TYNDP project data collection and that are expected to be commissioned no later than 31 December 2023.3
    • FID hydrogen projects, which refers to projects having taken the final investment decision ahead of the ­TYNDP 2024 Project ­Collection. The FID status was defined in Art. 2 (3) of Regulation (EC) 256/2014 as follows: “final investment decision” means the decision taken at the level of an undertaking to definitively earmark funds for the investment phase of a project (…)”.
    • Hydrogen projects in the Union list of PCIs and PMIs in force.
    • Modidications by requests of the ­European Commission concerning import corridors.
  • An Advanced hydrogen infrastructure level consisting of:
    • PCI/PMI hydrogen infrastructure level as defined above.
    • Hydrogen projects with Advanced status.4
    • Modifications by requests of the European Commission concerning import corridors.

The Advanced hydrogen infrastructure level broadens the range of the ­TYNDP 2024 System assessment, by including the advanced hydrogen projects on top of PCI/PMI infrastructure, allowing for a better and more complete infrastructure gaps identification.

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Figure 2: Hydrogen infrastructure levels in TYNDP 2024.

3 It is important to note that for the ­TYNDP 2024, no hydrogen infrastructure was collected that fulfils these conditions.
These rules are general in nature, intended for application in future versions, similar to those applied to natural gas infrastructure.
4 Additional advanced projects that are not part of the Union list.

4.2.2 Natural gas infrastructure levels

There are two natural gas infrastructure levels (see Figure 3):

  • A Low natural gas infrastructure level consisting of:
    • Existing natural gas infrastructure which represents the minimum level of natural gas infrastructure development and refers to natural gas infrastructure that is operational at the time of the ­TYNDP 2024 Project ­Collection as well as natural projects with the final investment decision taken (FID) and expected commissioning before 31 December 2024.
    • FID natural gas projects which refers to projects having taken the final investment decision ahead of the ­TYNDP 2024 Project Collection
    • Individual projects identified by the European Commission5. Despite not having taken final investment decision ahead of ­TYNDP 2024 Project Collection, identified projects are likely to show higher certainty of implementation, as they have been fully or partially funded by the respective EU Member States through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
  • An Advanced natural gas infrastructure level consisting of:
    • The Low natural gas infrastructure level as defined above.
    • The Advanced natural gas projects.
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Figure 3: Natural gas infrastructure levels in TYNDP 2024.

5 Refers to the following projects that are (at least partially) funded by the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF):
Cluster Croatia – Slovenia at Rogatec (bidirectional) [TRA-A-86], LNG Gdansk in Poland [LNG-A-947], Expansion of LNG terminal in Krk in Croatia above 2.6 bcm/a – Phase II and evacuation pipline Zlobin – Bosiljevo [TRA-A-75 and LNG-N-815], Bosiljevo-Sisak-Kozarac pipeline Croatia – Hungary [TRA-A-75], Poggio Renatico Compressor Station upgrade and reverse flow on the Malborghetto Compressor Station [TRA-N-954 (no RFF funding) and TRA-F-1145]

Infrastructure levels are the basis for the identification of infrastructure gaps in the TYNDP 2024 System assessment. The 2024 TYNDP System Assessment considers both hydrogen and natural gas infrastructure levels through the Dual Hydrogen/Natural Gas Model (Dual Gas Model, DGM). Hydrogen infrastructure is composed of newly built infrastructure dedicated to hydrogen and hydrogen infrastructure repurposed from natural gas infrastructure. Thus, it is necessary for the natural gas infrastructure level to consider the potential impact of repurposing of natural gas infrastructure to hydrogen infrastructure in the context of security of supply.

TYNDP 2024 has gone one step further and foresees also the interlinkage between hydrogen and with the electricity sectors through the Dual Hydrogen/Electricity Model (DHEM). The interaction between the energy carriers can be seen below in Figure 4. The usage of these models and further information of their outputs are described in the TYNDP 2024 Implementation Guidelines (Annex D1), the TYNDP 2024 Hydrogen Infrastructure Gaps Identification methodology (Annex D2), and the TYNDP 2024 System Assessment methodology (Annex D3).

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Figure 4: Description of the interactions between Electricity, Hydrogen and Natural gas systems in ­TYNDP 2024.