The Government wants to bet on hydrogen as "one of the mainstays of the new energy model of the future". This is explained by the director of the Energy and Climate Change Office, Carles Miquel, who acknowledges that the Principality is working on a project for hydrogen to play an important role in the Andorran energy context.

This is an initiative that works within the framework of the Pyrenees Work Community (CTP). Andorra is betting that it will go ahead with a project linked to hydrogen to take advantage of the benefits that its use would bring to replace traditional fossil fuels. Thus, after holding talks with the presidency of the CTP (both face-to-face and virtual), currently occupied by the Basque Country, a global map is being drawn up to detail the projects that could fit in the different territories of this community cross-border in order to build a model that allows the implementation of this new source of energy in the near future. Private sector


Some projects that, although they still need to be specified, could range from hydrogen warehouses, spaces to produce it or a corridor through the Pyrenees, according to several sources. Although the executive assures that everything is still "in a very initial phase", from the private sector talks are recognized with companies from other countries to take this initiative forward. In fact, Miquel recognizes that, unlike in 2016, when there was already an attempt to go ahead with an initiative also linked to hydrogen, "this time the difference is that the private sector has also been included". In fact, in the project that was called H2PyiR, which according to Miquel did not go ahead due to "administrative" issues, only research centers or universities were involved.

However, the director states that the issue of hydrogen has also been addressed with other countries, because it is an option that has been foreseen for a long time and even more so in the current situation, in which Europe has difficulties to access the traditional fossil fuels. Thus, states like Germany want to give hydrogen a boost to also boost the energy transition. In this sense, the 2020-2050 National Energy and Climate Change Strategy already mentioned the need to bet on green hydrogen, that which is produced through renewable energy sources.

It should be remembered that hydrogen, which can be stored in both liquid and gas form, is produced using water and electricity, in a process that can also be reversible. Precisely, this element would make it possible to give a boost to electric vehicles with hydrogen battery cars. In these vehicles, hydrogen is stored in a tank and then converted into electricity through combustion which, unlike traditional engines, emits water vapour. In this way, it is not only possible to significantly increase the autonomy of the cars, but also to reduce the recharging time, since hydrogen would be recharged like any other traditional fuel.

The current intention is that this CTP project, in addition to bringing infrastructure to the Principality, will also allow for pilot tests, which would be particularly linked to the use of hydrogen in public transport. Even so, Miquel acknowledges that there have already been companies that have proposed the implementation of technology linked to hydrogen to reduce, for example, diesel consumption in traditional boilers. THE BENEFITS Zero emissions The generation of hydrogen is done using electricity and water, which allows it to be generated in a green way. In addition, its combustion gives off water vapor. Conversations with the CTP

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Andorra has held talks with the presidency of the Working Community of the Pyrenees, occupied by the Basque Country, to activate this project.

Private sector
On this occasion, the private sector will also be counted on to give impetus to the possible infrastructures that are implemented.