Creos Luxembourg, Fluxys hydrogen in Belgium and GRTgaz in France have announced the release of a hydrogen transport infrastructure project. The project is a candidate for the IPCEI and aims to create a European network.

The HY4Link project is part of the Ten-Year Development Plan for the European Hydrogen Network* and has been published on the ENTSOG (European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas) website. Initially, the partners will assess consumption and transit needs in the Greater Region, where another mosaHYc project will be deployed. The aim is to link Belgium, Luxembourg, the Grand Est region in France and the Federal State of Saarland in Germany. These regions will thus form a central element of the European hydrogen backbone.

HY4Link is designed to link industries in France, Germany and Luxembourg to hydrogen import hubs in Antwerp, Zeebrugge, Rotterdam and Dunkirk. The project will also encourage the local production of renewable hydrogen in the Greater Region by providing the necessary transport infrastructure.

A network to link up with H2MED

For the section between France and Luxembourg, GRTgaz and Creos Luxembourg will study the possibility of developing a network connected to mosaHYc running from Bouzonville (France) to Frisange (Luxembourg) in the south of Luxembourg via Thionville (France). This first link between France and Luxembourg will be the starting point for setting up a hydrogen infrastructure in southern Luxembourg. For the section between Belgium and Luxembourg, a connection will be considered in cooperation between Creos Luxembourg and Fluxys hydrogen to link Luxembourg to the Belgian backbone via the Bras border point (Belgium).

In its second phase, the project will be completed with the construction of a hydrogen pipeline across Luxembourg to France and Germany, and a connection from Thionville to Cerville to link up with the H2Med corridor and a regional storage project.

“HY4Link will contribute to the development of a regional hydrogen economy and offer local industrial customers access to a competitive renewable hydrogen to accelerate their decarbonization.” Commented Sandrine Meunier, CEO of GRTgaz.

*Ten-Year Network Development Plan 2024 (TYNDP 2024). Out of 326 projects submitted, 202 concern hydrogen transport.

Article written by Laurent Meillaud and translated by Mariem Ben Tili