Italian players Edison, Snam, Saipem and Alboran Hydrogen have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the joint development of a green hydrogen project in southern Italy.

The Puglia Green Hydrogen Valley development is described by Edison as one of the first large-scale initiatives for the production and transport of green hydrogen in Italy.

According to Edison, the project’s aim is to help accelerate the uptake of green hydrogen — one of the key components of the European Union’s decarbonisation strategy — within Italy’s energy mix and to ensure national and European climate neutrality targets are met by 2050.

The Puglia scheme envisages building three green hydrogen production plants at Brindisi, Taranto and Cerignola that will have a combined capacity of 220 megawatts and that will be powered by a total photovoltaic (PV) production of 380 MW.

Once the three plants are operational, said Edison, it is forecast they will be able to produce about 300 million cubic metres of renewable hydrogen every year.

This green hydrogen will be used primarily for local industries with some of the gas to be injected or blended into Snam’s local gas network and may also be used for sustainable mobility.