Competitiveness of the Business Location
Transformation to Climate Neutrality
Security of Supply/Resilient Energy Supply
What is Needed to Achieve this?
We are already committed to an affordable and rapid ramp-up of the hydrogen economy. For this to be sustainably successful, the right political framework is needed:
Centralized Measures for the Hydrogen Ramp-Up:
1. Increasing the Supply of Hydrogen through Pragmatic Approaches
2. Effective Instruments to Boost Hydrogen Demand
3. Establishing Germany as a Hydrogen Hub
Only with these measures can hydrogen be successfully established as a central building block of the energy transition.
The Hydrogen Germany Initiative is intended to communicate across national borders how attractive the German hydrogen and distribution, but also what expertise we are prepared to pass along or export. After all, climate neutrality through hydrogen is a global matter.
Hydrogen and its derivatives are crucial components for a climate-neutral future. Now it is important to accelerate the hydrogen economy with full force and combined efforts.That is exactly what we are working on – and that is why we are a proud partner of Hydrogen Germany.
The rbv supports the Hydrogen Germany business alliance in order to consistently promote the hydrogen ramp-up in a broad alliance. We need hydrogen to achieve the climate targets. We use it to secure jobs and ensure a stable energy supply.
Germany needs a high-performance hydrogen grid. With the planned core grid, the transmission system operators are creating the basis for a functioning market. Now investments must also be made by producers and users. As FNB Gas, we are committed to Hydrogen Germany because the hydrogen ramp-up can only succeed if we work together.
As the leading European platform for open innovation in the hydrogen industry, we unlock the potential for innovation throughout Europe for Germany as an H2 and energy location. Hydrogen Germany is an important platform for making the strengths and assets of this location visible and helps to "get the ball rolling".
Without hydrogen, a climate-neutral and competitive industry will not be possible.
Hydrogen can only be effective in combination with other energy sources. This is why BDEW is involved as a partner of Hydrogen Germany: for innovation and technologies that intelligently combine the worlds of electricity and gas.
Germany will play a leading role in the hydrogen economy in the coming years – but domestic demand will far exceed its own production capacity. This means that, in addition to hydrogen production in Germany, we will also rely on significant imports to supply industry with renewable and decarbonized hydrogen and to sustainably transform the energy supply.
A large proportion of the hydrogen of the future will come from neighboring European countries and global partners. Large-scale pipeline projects to transport hydrogen to Germany are already underway. For example, the H2Med project will connect Spain and France with Germany in the future. It is expected that up to two million tons of hydrogen per year can be imported from southern Europe. From North Africa via Italy to Central Europe, up to four million tons of hydrogen per year are expected to come via the SouthH2 Corridor in the future.
In addition to these European import routes, hydrogen will also come to Germany from overseas. In the future, hydrogen-based energy carriers such as ammonia or synthetic fuels will also be imported by ship via existing and planned LNG terminals on the coasts to meet growing demand.
Establishing these international hydrogen partnerships is crucial to establishing Germany as a leading hydrogen nation – with a secure, diversified and sustainable supply.
As a key player in the energy transition, SEFE builds bridges for clean hydrogen between global producers and European consumers. Together with partners such as Höegh Evi, ACWA Power and Eletrobras, SEFE creates innovative import and transportation solutions that enable a sustainable energy future. The international partnerships are an important step towards establishing hydrogen as a key energy of the energy transition and ensuring a stable supply for industry.
AquaDuctus is an offshore hydrogen pipeline of the AquaVentus initiative and connects the green energy sources of the North Sea with the European mainland. As an “Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI)”, it plays a key role in the development of a forward-looking hydrogen infrastructure and links European production and consumption centers.
A highly efficient transport and distribution grid is needed to make hydrogen widely available for industry, mobility and energy supply. The Federal Network Agency has approved the hydrogen core grid proposed by the transmission system operators. It comprises 9,040 kilometers of pipeline, which is to be put into operation in stages by 2032.
60 percent of the core grid will consist of converted natural gas pipelines, while 40 percent will have to be newly constructed. The estimated investment costs amount to 18.9 billion euros. This core grid forms the basis for a secure hydrogen supply in Germany and ensures a direct connection to the European import corridors.
The majority of commercial and industrial customers will be supplied with hydrogen via the distribution grid, along with many public and combined heat and power plants. The existing gas distribution network, which is over 550,000 kilometers long, is already largely “H2-ready” and can be converted to operate with hydrogen.
In addition to the pipeline infrastructure, hydrogen storage facilities play a crucial role. In salt caverns – for example in Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony-Anhalt – hydrogen is stored in large quantities. These storage facilities make it possible to balance supply and demand and ensure a secure supply even in the event of production or transport bottlenecks.
The H2ercules Initiative aims to create the centerpiece for Germany’s hydrogen infrastructure in XXL format by 2030. To this end, OGE, RWE and, in the future, other partners are working together across the entire value chain to be able to quickly supply consumers in southern and western Germany with hydrogen from northern Germany.
The regional suppliers ENTEGA AG, Mainova AG, ESWE Versorgungs AG and Kraftwerke Mainz-Wiesbaden AG have joined forces with other partners to develop a regional hydrogen distribution network. The first sections of this approximately 300-kilometer-long network are to be put into operation from 2028. Local distribution of hydrogen is scheduled to begin in 2032: This involves a gradual conversion of the existing infrastructure from natural gas to the full use of hydrogen.
Gasunie’s Hyperlink project is an initiative to develop an extensive hydrogen grid in northern and western Germany. The aim of the project is to create a 660-kilometre infrastructure that connects important industrial regions and enables green hydrogen imports from the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway.
Hydrogen Pilot Cavern (HPC) Krummhörn is a pioneering Uniper project for storing green hydrogen in a specially created salt cavern. It makes an important contribution to the development of large-scale storage solutions. Trial operation began in 2024, with the aim of achieving a storage capacity of up to 600 GWh by 2030.
The transformation of local gas distribution networks to green gases such as hydrogen plays a central role in the energy transition. Energie Südbayern, Energienetze Bayern and Thüga are leading the way with the H2Direkt project: in fall 2023, they converted an existing local network with connected private customers in Hohenwart, Bavaria, to 100 % hydrogen for the first time in Germany. Since then, ten households and one commercial customer have been supplied with H2 via the repurposed network. On a small scale, but in practice and with success, H2Direkt is demonstrating how the conversion of today’s fossil gas supply to a hydrogen supply can be achieved. And this is possible in principle for all customer groups from households, trade and industry.
Flow – making hydrogen happen is an essential part of the German hydrogen core network. The first sections of the high-performance pipeline system will be available for green hydrogen from 2025. It accelerates the energy transition, reduces CO2 emissions and opens up new opportunities for a sustainable future for the industry.
Germany needs an innovative, technologically advanced and CO2-neutral industry that can continue to compete economically on the global market in the future. The use of hydrogen offers the industry enormous potential for reducing CO2 in its energy-intensive processes.
Today, 1.8 million commercial and industrial customers are connected to the gas distribution grid – an existing infrastructure that can play a crucial role in the future supply of climate-friendly hydrogen.
Hydrogen is a crucial building block for the decarbonization of industry – especially in sectors where direct electrification is technically or economically difficult to implement. Above all, energy-intensive industries depend on hydrogen as a climate-friendly energy source:
Chemical industry: Many chemical processes, in particular the production of ammonia and methanol, require large quantities of hydrogen. Currently, this mostly comes from fossil sources (gray hydrogen). By using green hydrogen, the industry can significantly contribute to reducing emissions.
Cement and glass production: In high-temperature processes where temperatures of over 1,000 °C are required, hydrogen can replace fossil fuels and thus reduce the carbon footprint.
Refineries: Refineries already use large quantities of hydrogen to desulphurize fuels. Switching to green hydrogen can achieve a direct and rapid reduction in emissions here.
Heavy goods vehicles and shipping: While passenger cars are increasingly being electrified, hydrogen is a promising solution for long-haul heavy goods vehicles, freight transport by rail and shipping – particularly in the form of hydrogen derivatives such as ammonia or synthetic fuels.
Power plants: To ensure a secure and climate-neutral energy supply, hydrogen-capable power plants will play a crucial role in the future. These power plants can react flexibly to renewable energies by operating with hydrogen in times of low electricity generation from wind and solar energy. In this way, they make an important contribution to grid stability and ensure a reliable electricity supply, especially in times of fluctuating renewable energy production.
With the increasing availability of hydrogen, these industries, as well as the energy industry, can drastically reduce their CO2 emissions without having to fundamentally change their core processes.
BMW relies on green hydrogen to make production at its Leipzig site sustainable and economical. The paint shop already uses dual-fuel burners that can also run on hydrogen. This switch requires only minimal adjustments and can be done while operations are ongoing.
The transformation program aims for virtually CO2-free steel production and will be implemented in three stages. The first stage is scheduled to begin operations at the end of 2025 and includes a direct reduction plant, an electric arc furnace and a 100-MW electrolysis plant for hydrogen production.
Mainova is converting Frankfurt’s largest combined heat and power plant, HKW West. By 2026, two new, efficient gas turbine plants with heat recovery steam generators will be built that produce heat and electricity simultaneously and are already prepared for the use of hydrogen.
Become part of the business alliance for clean energy now.
Support the transformation towards climate neutrality by accelerating the hydrogen ramp-up. Let’s work together to turn the hydrogen network into an invigorating and pulsating artery of a strong and competitive industrial location in Germany. Become part of economic alliance for clean energy now.
