EnBW Commits €1 Billion to Develop National Hydrogen Core Network in Germany

EnBW Commits €1 Billion to Develop National Hydrogen Core Network in Germany

(IN BRIEF) EnBW is investing approximately one billion euros to help establish a national hydrogen core network in Germany, part of the future European Hydrogen Backbone. This initiative, planned to be completed by 2032, aims to supply hydrogen to major industrial centers and power plants, enhancing resilience and sustainability in the energy sector. EnBW subsidiaries terranets bw and VNG/ONTRAS Gastransport have committed to pipeline projects that will connect various regions in Germany to the hydrogen network. The Federal Network Agency will review the application for these projects in the coming weeks.

(PRESS RELEASE) HAMBURG, 23-Jul-2024 — /EuropaWire/ — EnBW has announced its participation in the establishment and expansion of a national hydrogen core network, with an initial investment of approximately one billion euros. This initiative aligns with the German government’s plan to build a hydrogen core network by 2032, which will serve as a foundational element of the future European Hydrogen Backbone (EHB). The network aims to supply hydrogen to key industrial centers, power plants, and generation facilities, while also creating transnational corridors for hydrogen imports.

Dirk Güsewell, EnBW’s Board Member for System Critical Infrastructure, emphasized the significance of this project: “The hydrogen core network represents the first step into the hydrogen economy of the future, establishing the basis for the complete decarbonization of the German economy and the achievement of climate targets. EnBW welcomes and supports this groundbreaking project. This marks the beginning of another important chapter in the energy transition, in which our company will invest a total of around 40 billion euros by 2030.”

EnBW subsidiaries terranets bw and VNG/ONTRAS Gastransport have submitted concrete commitments for pipeline projects to the Federal Network Agency, pending approval. These projects involve converting existing pipelines and building new connections to integrate regions such as Baden-Württemberg and large parts of eastern and central Germany into the hydrogen core network.

Güsewell highlighted the gradual nature of establishing an efficient hydrogen infrastructure due to technical and economic challenges. He stressed the importance of effective investment incentives for rapid development, noting that while the legislature has created an amortization account to offset high investment costs against initially low network user charges, further improvements to the financing framework are needed.

EnBW’s subsidiary terranets bw has committed to integrating the south German natural gas pipeline (SEL), currently under construction, into the hydrogen core network. This pipeline will initially supply natural gas and later transition to hydrogen, serving hydrogen-ready gas power plants in Heilbronn, Altbach/Deizisau, and Stuttgart-Münster. Additional potential projects include transport pipelines to Upper Swabia and Lake Constance, and a cross-border connection from France to the Breisgau region.

VNG subsidiary ONTRAS will develop hydrogen transport pipelines in central Germany, connecting regions such as Leipzig, the central German chemical triangle, Saxony-Anhalt, Lower Saxony, the Berlin region, and the Meissen industrial arc. Other projects include connections south of Berlin to Poland and from Rostock to Glasewitz.

The Federal Network Agency will consult on the core network application in the coming weeks. The hydrogen transport infrastructure will be developed further based on demand, as part of the integrated gas/H₂ network development planning process.

About Energie Baden-Württemberg AG (EnBW)

With a workforce of some 27,000 employees, EnBW is one of the largest energy supply companies in Germany and Europe. It supplies electricity, gas and water together with infrastructure and energy-related products and services to around 5.5 million customers. In the company’s transformation from a traditional energy provider to a sustainable infrastructure group, the expansion of renewable energy sources and of the distribution and transportation grids for electricity and gas are cornerstones of EnBW’s growth strategy and the focus of its investment spending. Between 2023, and 2025, EnBW plans gross investment totaling €14 billion, largely in accelerating the implementation of the energy transition. EnBW aims for renewables to account for over half of its generation portfolio by as early as the end of 2025 and to phase out coal by the end of 2028. These are key milestones on the way to the company being carbon-neutral by 2035.

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SOURCE: EnBW