German regulators have given approval for the construction of a nationwide network of hydrogen pipelines, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck announced on Tuesday.
Planners expect hydrogen to be an increasingly important energy source as Germany transitions away from fossil fuels and toward an economy built on renewable energy.
“Today, the hydrogen core network has been decided. It is not yet finished – but it will now be built,” Habeck, a Green party member, said at a press conference.
Habeck noted that the regulatory approval came two and a half years since the network was proposed, a timeline he praised as “record-breaking.”
Some sections are to be completed before the target year of 2032. Total project costs are forecast at €19.8 billion ($21 billion), which will be borne largely by the private sector, although state subsidies will cap network charges.
According to the Association of Transmission System Operators, the network should be able to transport up to 278 terawatt hours of energy in the form of hydrogen every year.
That is the equivalent to a third of Germany’s current natural gas consumption, said Ralph Bahke, deputy chairman of the association.
However, with a total distance of 9,040 kilometres, the network will be significantly smaller than initially assumed. Germany’s Federal Network Agency removed more than 600 kilometres from the original plan.
Federal Network Agency President Klaus Müller justified the cuts with the reduction of “redundancies” and connection lines that were not needed in the core network.
Repurposed natural gas pipelines are expected to make up 60% of the total network. Müller emphasized that the supply of natural gas will nevertheless remain guaranteed.
“We are also building additional natural gas pipelines to enable precisely the aspect of security of supply in natural gas that we will need for quite some time,” he said.
Energy industry groups such as the German Energy Agency (dena) welcomed the approval as “trend-setting.”
The German Association of Local Utilities (VKU) pointed out that the core network alone would not be sufficient to connect many companies. VKU Managing Director Ingbert Liebing explained that distribution grids were urgently needed.
Distribution grid operators have also lacked the legal basis to convert existing grids to more climate-friendly gases like hydrogen.
