TE H2, a joint venture of France’s TotalEnergies (holding an 80% stake) and Luxembourg’s EREN Groupe (holding 20%), along with Austria’s Verbund AG, are exploring the production of green hydrogen in Tunisia for export to Europe via a pipeline, according to a statement from Total.

The project, named H2 Notos, saw a memorandum of understanding signed today with the Tunisian government. The partners will examine the feasibility of producing green hydrogen.

H2 Notos plans to utilize electrolyzers powered by large onshore wind and solar power plants, which will be supplied with desalinated seawater. Initially, the green hydrogen production capacity may reach 200,000 tons per year, with the potential to increase to 1 million tons per year.

The hydrogen will be exported through the SouthH2 pipeline, connecting North Africa to Italy, Austria, and Germany. This pipeline could become operational around 2030, according to the company.

In recent years, European policymakers have viewed hydrogen as crucial for reducing fossil fuel usage in energy-intensive industries such as steel. While green hydrogen projects are rapidly expanding across the continent, few have reached the final stage due to the high costs of large-scale production and transportation compared to gas.