EnBW to invest EUR 1bn in German hydrogen core network

Electric utility EnBW Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG (ETR:EBK) will invest around EUR 1 billion (USD 1.089bn) in the construction and expansion of Germany's hydrogen core network, which is to be built by 2032 and will be part of the European Hydrogen Backbone.

EnBW said today its subsidiaries terranets bw and VNG/ONTRAS Gastransport have submitted concrete commitments for pipeline projects to the Federal Network Agency as part of a joint application by the German long-distance gas transmission network operators. The pipelines, proposed by the two gas transmission companies, include the conversion of existing natural gas pipelines and the building of new connections.

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More specifically, terranets bw plans to integrate the South German natural gas pipeline (SEL) into the hydrogen core network. The SEL, upon completion, will initially supply natural gas to Baden-Wuerttemberg and later transition to hydrogen, serving hydrogen-capable gas power plants in Heilbronn, Altbach/Deizisau, and Stuttgart-Muenster. Additional projects include transport pipelines to Upper Swabia and Lake Constance, and a cross-border connection from France to Breisgau.

VNG's subsidiary ONTRAS will build hydrogen transport pipelines in central Germany, connecting the Leipzig region with the central German chemical clusters, industrial centres in Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony, the Berlin area, and the Meissen industrial region. Further projects include connections from south of Berlin to Poland and Lusatia, routes from south of Rostock to Glasewitz, and other connecting pipelines.

The Federal Network Agency has two months to approve the plan for the hydrogen core network, including a two-week consultation period until August 6.