Highlights of the September 2025 soNews blogletter

At the Franco-German Council of Ministers meeting on 29 August, France and Germany reaffirmed their determination to develop cross-border hydrogen infrastructure. They emphasised their shared priority and long-term commitment to the rapid implementation of the H2med Corridor, including the HY-FEN and BarMar gas pipeline projects.

The two countries stressed that they would also be holding joint discussions with Spain, Portugal and the European Commission to identify risk mitigation needs. “These announcements show that the shared interest in building a future integrated European hydrogen market is gaining ground,” said Sandrine Meunier, CEO of NaTran..

On 1 July, five French regions (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Occitanie, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Grand-Est) signed a joint declaration of support for the HY-FEN project. This 800 km long French hydrogen transport backbone, supported by NaTran and crossing France from south to north, will be one of the pillars of the decarbonisation of French industry. HY-FEN is also a key component of the European H2med project. The commitment by these regions is in line with the declaration made by France and Germany on 29 August in support of the H2med corridor.

On 3 July, NaTran and the other transmission system operators Teréga (France/South West) and Enagás (Spain) took a major step forward for H2med, the first renewable, low-carbon hydrogen corridor linking the Iberian Peninsula, France and Germany, by creating the company BarMar.

An essential link in the H2med project, BarMar will connect Barcelona to Marseille via an undersea hydrogen pipeline. Based in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, BarMar reflects the equal French and Spanish interest in the BarMar project: Enagás holds 50% of the capital, NaTran 33.3% and Teréga 17.7%.

Recognised as a Project of Common Interest (PCI) by the European Commission, the initiative has been awarded grants under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) call for projects, funds that are essential for carrying out the preliminary studies. For Sandrine Meunier, CEO of NaTran, “the creation of BarMar is a concrete example of cross-border cooperation in the development of strategic energy infrastructure to decarbonise our energies”.

As confirmed by the European Biogas Association (BEA) and Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) in their latest industry map, France has become Europe’s leading producer of biomethane this year. With over 21% of total biomethane production and 771 production units (three times as many as in Germany), France is one of Europe’s driving forces in the sector, while the European Union has set itself a production target of 35 billion m3 by 2030. Today, 86% of methanisation facilities in Europe are connected to the gas transmission and distribution networks. In France, our NaTran infrastructure is ready to welcome renewable gases and contribute to Europe’s decarbonisation objectives.

On 17 October, NaTran will be closing its call for applications for the 4th year of its Nova incubator. Up to four start-ups will be selected to receive a year’s support from NaTran R&I, our research and innovation centre, including workspace, access to in-house resources, technical and methodological support and contact with investors. The selected start-ups will be able to launch experiments, benefit from NaTran's expertise and capitalise on synergies with the other start-ups in the incubator.

Expected projects will focus on renewable gases, the transport of hydrogen and CO₂, the adaptation of the network to changes in consumption, and the development of practices to protect the climate and biodiversity. This is a unique opportunity to develop innovative low-carbon solutions, directly in line with our NaTran 2030 corporate project.

We did it! The Ch0C low-carbon industrial gas boiler at Villers-Saint-Paul (Oise) was commissioned in June. This launch is the culmination of three years’ collaborative work by a consortium of 16 players, including NaTran. This demonstrator, supported by the French environment agency, ADEME, is based on cutting-edge technologies, including “oxycombustion”, which facilitate the capture and recovery of CO₂. Ch0c offers manufacturers a competitive solution capable of reducing their direct CO₂ emissions from steam production by more than 90%. On a national scale, replacing 1,000 traditional boilers with Ch0C would avoid up to 4 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions a year.

-38%
The reduction in NaTran’s CO2 emissions in 2024 compared with 2019, 18% more than the target! In one year alone, compression energy emissions have fallen by 15%.

1,484
The number of new methanisation unit projects registered by the industry in the first six months of 2025, according to France Gaz Renouvelables. That’s as many as in 2024... and in 2023!