Gascade sources conventional hydrogen to fill first German pipeline section

The German gas grid operator Gascade is using conventional fossil-derived "gray" hydrogen to fill the first section of its "Flow – Making hydrogen happen" pipeline network under construction, the company told Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.

The company said industrial hydrogen was currently being fed into its pipeline in a section in the German state of Brandenburg in the east of the country.

"This is only because it is currently not possible to procure sufficient quantities of green hydrogen for this purpose on the market," a company spokesperson said by email.

It announced the start of hydrogen filling in the pipeline on March 12, marking a "significant" milestone in the country's energy transition.

The company aims to establish a national hydrogen market with the goal of avoiding CO2 emissions. In the long term, it wants to transport 100% green hydrogen produced through renewables-powered electrolysis, the spokesperson said.

The company did not elaborate when asked when sufficient renewable hydrogen would be available to achieve this goal.

"We are convinced that the hydrogen market will be a success, especially since it is urgently needed for the decarbonization of German industry," the spokesperson said. "By implementing these projects, we as a network operator are providing the necessary infrastructure in advance, but we are also creating planning security for the other stages of the value chain for their market launch."

Gascade said it will convert a section of the pipeline for hydrogen use from the Lubmin on the German Baltic Sea coast to Bobbau in Saxony-Anhalt by the end of 2025.

The company aims to develop "import corridors in the North and Baltic Sea region for Germany and Europe and integrate both offshore and onshore production," the spokesperson said, pointing to a number of projects under development.

Lubmin is set to host several large-scale production projects, though the future of one such project is in question as developer HH2E goes through a restructuring process.

Platts assessed the cost of green hydrogen production via alkaline electrolysis in Germany, backed by renewable power purchase agreements, at Eur10.18/kg ($11.08/kg) on March 13, down from a peak of over Eur14.50/kg in mid-December.

The assessment reflects one possible pathway for producing EU Renewable Energy Directive-compliant green hydrogen.

Flow state

As part of the project, some 400 km of the previous gas pipeline is to be gradually converted to transport hydrogen by the end of 2025.

The project is part of Germany's planned hydrogen core network, 60% of which will be created by converting existing gas pipelines and 40% by building new pipelines.

The whole network is planned to be realized by 2032, with an investment of approximately Eur19 billion ($20.7 billion).

Expansion to the Baltic Sea region as well as to western and southern Germany will follow in subsequent years.

Rostock-Wrangelsburg link

Gascade said in February it would start mapping work on a planned 120-km pipeline between Rostock and Wrangelsburg in northern Germany as part of the "Flow – making hydrogen happen" project.

The mapping work will take place through to autumn to study the planned pipeline corridor in preparation for the planning approval procedure. Pipeline completion is planned by 2028.

The pipeline will carry hydrogen from the Rostock port area and feed into the Flow system.

The preliminary work includes surveying, geological site exploration and environmental protection investigations, the company said.

The pipeline links to near Lubmin, where several large-scale hydrogen projects and a north-south pipeline are being planned.

Gascade is also developing the AquaDuctus offshore pipeline in the German North Sea to connect offshore pipelines to the planned German hydrogen grid via Wilhelmshaven.