Three transmission system operators (TSOs) have joined forces to create a pipeline network across Germany to enable the supply of green hydrogen from the north of the country where it will be imported to the south.
Gascade Gastransport GmbH, Ontras Gastransport GmbH und terranets bw GmbH plan to convert the first large-scale pipelines for hydrogen transport by 2025 so that significant volumes of the gas can be supplied from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the north to Thuringia. The hydrogen network will be then expanded to include the states of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate in 2028 and reach Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria in the south by 2030.
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As part of the joint project called Flow - making hydrogen happen, the partners will convert existing natural gas pipelines with a length of more than 1,100 km (683.5mi) and a feed-in capacity of up to 20 GW and connect them to existing hydrogen projects such as H2 for Baden-Wuerttemberg.
The planned hydrogen infrastructure in Germany will be connected also to Denmark's energy island Bornholm in 2027 and to Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and France in the years after 2030, Gascade's managing director Christoph von dem Bussche explained.