The German Federal Network Agency announced that it approved the transmission system operators’ proposals regarding hydrogen network with a length of 9,040 kilometers.
To achieve climate neutrality by 2045, Europe’s largest economy wants to replace most of its fossil fuel needs with hydrogen. The core transmission network, which will connect heavy industry centers, will be fully operational by 2032.
The network will be shorter
The original core network proposal was 600 kilometers longer than the approved plans. Shortening the network by sections that, according to Klaus Mueller, head of the Federal Network Agency, would be unnecessary, allowed for cost reduction from EUR 19.7 billion to EUR 18.9 billion.
60 percent networks will be converted from existing gas pipelinesand the rest will be built anew. Mueller said that approximately 660 kilometers of current gas connections will be strengthenedwhich will cost EUR 2 billion. The first pipelines are scheduled to be launched next year.
Hydrogen from Norway will not flow to Germany
Recently, German efforts to replace natural gas with hydrogen have encountered major obstacles. Norway withdrew from the construction of a key pipeline.
Earlier, the Norwegian energy company Equinor signed an agreement with the German company RWE to create a hydrogen supply network to power plants in Germany. However, the Norwegians abandoned their plans to export hydrogen to Germany because the hydrogen pipeline turned out to be unprofitable, with due to high costs and insufficient demand for hydrogen.