A mega alliance for hydrogen transport in Germany?

No less than 7 companies from the steel, infrastructure and energy sectors have decided to join forces to organise hydrogen transport in the north west of the country.

Yet another signal that the hydrogen economy is structuring. In any case, Germany is making progress with this project. The aim is to make Wilhelmshaven, a port town in Lower Saxony, the entry point for a network that will enable hydrogen transport to the industrial basins of Wilhelmshaven and to North Rhine-Westphalia. The alliance includes BP, Gasunie, Nowega, NWO, Salzgitter, Thyssengas and Uniper who have signed a letter of intent.

BP and Uniper originally had plans to import and produce hydrogen around Wilhelmshaven. Therefore, the idea is that Gasunie*, Nowega, NWO and Thyssengas, which already have gas transport networks and plan to invest in hydrogen, will connect to the pipes that are currently being built. Hydrogen could be transported as far south as Cologne (400 km) and as far east as Halmburg and the Hanover region. In the latter region, the steel producer Salzgitter sees it as an opportunity to use this gas to decarbonise its business.

For Thyssengas, “the only way to deploy an infrastructure quickly is to join forces. The network could become a reality in 2028, but we need a regulatory framework and we need it very quickly,” says Thomas Gößmann, the group’s CEO.

The alliance considers that this project is able to meet the expectations of the German government, which wants to achieve neutrality by 2045.

*The group is building the Hyperlink system, which will also link Germany to the Netherlands and Denmark.

If you want to know more about hydrogen in Germany, you can read our latest article about it here.

Article written by Laurent Meillaud and translated by Logan King