Mr. Noel Regan:

In the first instance, the ENNOH acronym is quite difficult. It is a European hydrogen network operator. The principle behind that is there is an existing network for electricity and for gas. It basically makes the transmission system operators co-operate to facilitate a European market. Largely, the network is born out of a previous gas crisis where it was found that the grids could transfer gas around Europe, but the rules and the market conditions were not there to facilitate it. It was imposed on the gas network operators for that purpose. It has proven to work very well. Hence, we have a proposal for a new network for hydrogen. It is important to note that the hydrogen network is separate from the electricity grid operator network and the gas operator network. Co-ordinated plans must be made at member state level for all three - hydrogen, electricity and natural gas - so that we avoid having plans that essentially do not talk to each other and the line. There are unbundling rules within this package for hydrogen. Essentially, there is some flexibility up to 2030. It is expected that as hydrogen develops, there will essentially be small clusters in member states, which over time will develop into a full hydrogen market. I think the Commissioner is saying that investors can have some flexibility this decade in that investment and in creating hydrogen networks. However, the Commission has been very clear from the outset that there is unbundling of operators and transmissions from 2030. It is a good signal from the Commission. It has been challenging, as I am sure Deputies and Senators will be aware, in gas and electricity. The advantage here is that we have a clean slate almost. The Commission is clear on the rules.

On the question of the vision, I look on this proposal quite positively in the overall sense, in that it creates a market for renewable gases and low-carbon gases. It is very good. It is a separate market to the current natural gas market. It is a very complex package and there are levers in there. We need to carefully consider and understand what the effect of those levers would be. In terms of the overall vision, the focus is towards a net-zero 2050. There will be a pathway to that objective, depending on different roads, such as blending and transitioning. Currently, 10% of natural gas in Europe is used for hydrogen. If that could be switched to renewable gas, that would be quite a dramatic change in Europe's gas imports and Ireland's. The vision of the climate action plan is clear on energy efficiency, and electrification. Hydrogen will also have a key role in those hard to abate sectors.