Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised Società Gasdotti Italia S.p.A. (“SGI”) on its first hydrogen valley project, HELIOS.
HELIOS will be the largest green hydrogen production hub in the Frosinone industrial district in Lazio and is being built by SGI in collaboration with ENGIE Italia and Consorzio Industriale. It will play a key role in promoting the energy transition in the region by producing, storing, transporting and using green hydrogen, produced by electrolysis with the exclusive use of additional renewable energy. This will supply local industries via the local gas network owned by SGI. When fully operational, the hub is expected to produce around 400 tonnes of green hydrogen per year.
The project will also be funded by the Lazio Region with €9.5m from the Italy’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (“NRP”).
SGI is the second largest natural gas transmission operator in Italy in terms of network expansion and, in partnership with qualified industrial partners and research organisations, has launched several projects to reduce climate-changing emissions.
The WFW Italy Public Law, Regulatory and Competition team that advised SGI on setting up relations with public and private partners, on participating in the regional tender for NRP funds and on drafting and negotiating project agreements was led by Partner Giannalberto Mazzei, supported by the Associates Cesare Fossati and Francesco Dei Rossi.
The team worked closely throughout the transaction with ENGIE’s inhouse Italian legal team led by Head of Legal Energy Solutions Public Administration Rocco Steffenoni.
