Green hydrogen is moving ever closer to residential use, as Portugal has underlined. The country injected green hydrogen into the Portuguese natural gas grid for the first time, in a ceremony presided over by Prime Minister António Costa, in Seixal.

In his closing speech at the inauguration, the Prime Minister affirmed the need for Portugal to follow a clear and persistent strategy of investing in the development of green hydrogen, which can give the country energy freedom and position it as an exporter of renewable gases.

"If we want to have a future that is more environmentally sustainable, more economically prosperous and more politically free, then we really have to continue with this commitment to renewable energies," he said.

António Costa also said that "it is important that we dream and do the work. It may not be in a year or two. But we must have a clear strategy and the persistence to carry it out, because the logic is very clear: we have one of the best structures, one of the most modern infrastructures and one of the best coverage in the distribution infrastructure in the natural gas network".

Energy independence

Referring to the investment in green hydrogen production, he pointed to the threat posed by Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, stating that "there is one advantage that is clear to everyone from 24 February 2022: no one can be totally dependent on an external supplier or suppliers for the energy they need. Energy autonomy means freedom. Therefore, when Portugal invests in renewable energies, in its energy autonomy, it is also strengthening its own freedom".

The President of the Government recalled that one of the greatest weights of national expenditure in terms of balance of transactions results from energy imports, so "here we have an opportunity to reduce imports, to replenish them and, in the future, to export what we can produce ourselves. Every 5% of hydrogen injected into the grid is 5% less natural gas that we import.