General – Hydrogen Infrastructure
To accelerate the preparations for cross-border hydrogen infrastructure between Denmark and Germany, Søren Dupont Kristensen, CEO of Energinet System Operator, and Jens Schuman, CEO of Gasunie Deutschland, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The preparation outlined in the MoU includes a coordinated approach towards network development planning based on the results of the prefeasibility-study and the latest market developments in both supply and demand.
Energinet and Gasunie will also analyze and outline the crucial decision gates on the way towards reaching final investment decisions.
In May 2022 Germany, Denmark, Belgium, and the Netherlands set a joint target to deliver at least 65 GW offshore wind power by 2030 and to increase capacity to at least 150 GW by 2050. In conjunction with the so-called Esbjerg declaration, the Danish and German Governments concluded a Letter of Intent (LoI) on strengthened collaboration on green hydrogen including looking into a potential pipeline for hydrogen export from Denmark to Germany.
Last year Energinet and Gasunie Deutschland conducted a techno-economic pre-feasibility-study, which showed that Denmark could potentially supply 10-25 % of the future German hydrogen demand through this pipeline. Since then, ambitious political agreements on Power-to-X and massive build out of renewable energy have been reached in the Danish parliament. Consequently, Energinet has launched a study that investigates the feasibility of a ‘hydrogen backbone’ in the western part of Denmark including infrastructure for exports to Germany.
