EU: Germany to build a 19 billion euro hydrogen network
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Germany has approved plans to build a 19 billion-euro national hydrogen network, extending its commitment to an energy source that has hit some snags in recent months, Bloomberg reports.
Germany’s Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur, BNetzA) announced on Tuesday that it has approved proposals from transmission system operators for a 9,040 kilometer long hydrogen network to be built in the coming years and become fully operational operational in 2032. This would form a central network that will connect industrial hubs, such as steel producers, that will want to decarbonize their activities.
Europe’s biggest economy wants to replace most of its fossil fuel needs with hydrogen to reach climate neutrality by 2045. But in recent months, Germany’s plans have hit some snags with the cancellation of a major hydrogen pipeline which was to connect with Norway.
Officials said most of Germany’s hydrogen needs would initially be covered by imports.
The initial proposal for a central hydrogen network was 600 kilometers longer than the plans that were finally approved, which reduced the estimated costs from 19.7 to 18.9 billion euros. Klaus Mueller, the president of Germany’s Federal Network Agency (BNetzA), justified the reduction by saying that some parts of the original plans were considered redundant.
Approximately 60% of Germany’s hydrogen network would be composed of the conversion of existing gas pipelines and the rest would be newly built pipelines. Klaus Mueller informed that about 660 kilometers of the current gas pipelines will be modernized, an effort that will cost two billion euros. The first pipelines in the future network would be operational the following year.
