Gassco, Gascade team up to develop Germany-Norway hydrogen route

Norwegian gas network operator Gassco AS has signed a memorandum of understanding with German peer Gascade Gastransport GmbH to partner in the development of a route to enable hydrogen exports from Norway to Germany by pipeline.

The agreement was signed on Tuesday at the Hannover Messe, reinforcing the German-Norwegian partnership established in January 2023 in the areas of climate, renewable energy, and green industry.

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On the Norwegian side, Gassco will be responsible for the development of infrastructure for exporting hydrogen produced in the Scandinavian country to Germany. On the German side, Gascade will be developing the offshore hydrogen pipeline AquaDuctus in the North Sea. The purpose of AquaDuctus is to link adjacent offshore pipelines in the North Sea and provide a connection to Germany.

The overall goal is to enable hydrogen transportation between Norway and Germany from 2030 onwards.

Gascade previously agreed to co-operate on the AquaDuctus project with Belgium-based energy infrastructure group Fluxys. The German company is active in several onshore and offshore hydrogen projects. It also operates a gas pipeline network throughout Germany which it aims to repurpose for hydrogen.