On the morning of April 10, GRTGaz announced the official launch of the first cross-border renewable, low-carbon hydrogen transport network between France and Germany. It will come into service in 2027.

The announcement was made by Sandrine Meunier, GRTGaz’s new Chief Executive Officer, who was accompanied by Anthony Mazzenga, Director of Development. They expressed their pride in launching this pioneering network as part of the European backbone, which brings together 28 countries and 33 partners along a 53,000 km route. “This will be the world’s first cross-border valley,” pointed out Mrs Meunier. The network is located in the Greater Region between Lorraine, Saarland and Luxembourg.

An agreement with a German steelmaker

In concrete terms, GRTGaz, one of Europe’s leading gas transport companies, and Creos Deutschland Wasserstoff, the hydrogen subsidiary of a network operator in Saarland (Germany), are to invest €110 million (€40 M and €70 M respectively). The announcement of this decision coincides with the signing of a contract with Saarland steelmaker ROGESA Roheisengesellschaft Saar, as part of its Power4steel decarbonisation project at the Dillingen site.

The partners will build a 90 km hydrogen pipeline, 70 km of which will come from a natural gas pipeline conversion. This network will link the largest industrial consumer, ROGESA in Dillingen, which will be using 50,000 tonnes a year, to hydrogen producers located along its route, which passes through Völklingen, Saint-Avold, Carling, Bouzonville, Perl (on the Luxembourg border), Saarlouis and Dillingen. It is scheduled to come into service in 2027.

An eventual expansion to other customers

As explained at an online conference, this hydrogen network will also be a lever for decarbonising local industries and cross-border mobility. It will be able to accommodate other customers, including hydrogen distribution stations.

In Germany, the implementation of the MosaHYc project depends on the federal government’s IPCEI subsidy decision and the subsequent final investment decision. This Franco-German infrastructure project has also been recognised by Europe as a Project of Common Interest for its key role in meeting Europe’s targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Do you want to learn more about GRTGaz and the MosaHYc Project? Then you can click here and here.

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Article written by Laurent Meillaud and translated by Mariem Ben Tili