Germany to build pipeline as part of €8bn hydrogen fund

Announcements made by two natural gas grid operators in Germany have revealed plans to construct a 475km network for the transportation of hydrogen gas in the eastern part of the country.

Ontras Gastransport, a Leipzig-based firm, and Gascade, another operator based in Kassel, plan to build this system as part of a bigger hydrogen hub plan, which is scheduled for 2026, in the same region.

Over sixty percent of the entire network will be constructed by repurposing and transforming the firm’s existing natural gas infrastructure, while new pipelines will be used to complete the rest.

Christoph von dem Bussche, Gascades’ managing director, commented: “Together we can initiate the rapid development of a hydrogen economy in east Germany. With 475km of starting network, we can quickly build up large H2 capacities and also expand them internationally.”

Together we can initiate the rapid development of a hydrogen economy in east Germany. With 475km of starting network, we can quickly build up large H2 capacities and also expand them internationally.

Christoph von dem Bussche, MD Gascades

This new pipeline system will serve as a link between production and consumption sites in Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Berlin, Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt.

Germany has an €8bn hydrogen hub plan aimed at developing 2GW of electrolysis capacity and 1,700km of hydrogen pipelines by 2030. It has also put together 62 large-scale projects under that plan. 

The project selection was done by the government through the Federal Ministry of Economics and the Federal Ministry of Transport.