Contents of the March 2025 soNews blogletter

As our company celebrates its 20th anniversary, it is changing its name to NaTran and embracing a new chapter in its history. With its industrial and technological resonance, this new brand name evokes our core business as a NATional gas TRANsportation operator, as well as our social commitment to respecting NATure and the energy TRANsition. It is accompanied by a unifying signature: ‘The heart of your energies’, which recalls NaTran’s central role in the energy and gas system. The colour yellow was chosen for its positive and vibrant feel, and in reference to the terminals that discreetly indicate the presence of our network across France.

“This new identity reflects our commitment to transformation. Our course is clear: while guaranteeing a well-balanced gas system, we want to become a benchmark operator in Europe for the transportation and logistics of renewable and low-carbon gases, hydrogen and CO₂”, explains Sandrine Meunier, CEO of NaTran. Behind this new brand name is a new corporate project entitled NaTran2030. Our ambition is a lofty one: by 2030, we want to devote at least 50% of our investment to the energy transition, increase the volume of renewable gas in our networks fivefold and build 1,000 km of hydrogen and CO₂ infrastructure in France.

The ‘2024 Gas & Energy Transition Report’ unveiled by NaTran on 4th March is full of important lessons to be learnt. The report shows that French gas consumption fell by 5.5% last year to 361 TWh, largely due to the significant fall in electricity production from gas-fired power stations as well as ongoing efforts to improve energy efficiency. The paper also highlights the key role of French infrastructure throughout Europe. With its LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminals, France remains a major LNG entry and transit point and accounts for a quarter of European LNG imports, with 123 TWh exported to neighbouring countries (+10%). Finally, the report also reveals the dynamic momentum of the French renewable gas sector, driven by biogas production. In 2024, total production reached 11.6 TWh, compared with 9.2 TWh in 2023, the equivalent of two nuclear reactors!

In the context of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) funding programme, the European Union has decided to award NaTran €35 million in grants to continue developing five hydrogen and CO₂ transport networks by 2030. This represents a wonderful endorsement of our expertise and a boost for this future infrastructure, which will help establish the European energy market. The projects selected include BarMar, an undersea hydrogen pipeline linking Barcelona to Fos-sur-Mer, and HY-FEN, which will connect southern France to Germany. To the east, RHYn will reinforce the route from Mulhouse. In terms of CO₂ capture and transport the EU has selected the GOCO2 and DKharbo projects, to the west and north of France.

The five gas transportation infrastructure operators who are partners of the H2Med project, including NaTran, and around ten other companies that are also involved in this project have joined forces to launch the H2Med Alliance. This collaboration unites all those across Portugal, Spain, France and Germany who wish to see a European hydrogen economy emerge based on strategic decarbonisation infrastructures and the continent’s energy sovereignty. H2Med will link the Iberian Peninsula to Central Europe. This alliance enables NaTran to confirm its leading role in this historic transition.

Nova: episode 3! NaTran has selected three new start-ups committed to the energy transition to join our Nova incubator, located at the heart of our NaTran R&I centre. The first, LC-Engineering, is developing an innovative solution for analysing and measuring hydrogen and CO₂. Octométha, meanwhile, is developing a new generation of biogas production units that have no internal mechanics and which are reliable, simple and affordable for all farms. Lastly, Rift offers France’s first long-range, remotely piloted drones, providing instant aerial imaging services without the need for an on-site operator. We would like to extend a warm welcome to all three budding companies, who will receive tailored support for a year!

• 57%
  The proportion of LNG in France’s gas supply. Some of this is destined for our European partners, notably Switzerland, Italy and Belgium.
• +18,6%
  Expected rise in recruitment in the renewable gas sector (biogas, pyrogasification, hydrothermal gasification, Power to Methane) between now and 2026, according to France Gaz’s latest Barometer of companies in the renewable gas sector.

You might very well have heard our name on the TV or radio recently! Following its name change, NaTran launched a marketing campaign entitled ‘Le chemin de la transition énergétique’ (‘The path to the energy transition’) in February to raise awareness about our public service missions and to promote our ambitions for the energy transition.

10th Renewable Gas Overview

On Thursday, 3rd April, the Syndicat des énergies renouvelables (SER), in collaboration with NaTran and other gas network operators, will publish the 2024 Renewable Gas Overview. This provides an opportunity to discover all the latest figures and to gauge the momentum of the French renewable gas sector.