German govt to discuss hydrogen import strategy next week

The German government will discuss the country's hydrogen import strategy next week, economy minister Robert Habeck said on Monday.

At a press conference marking the award of EUR 4.6 billion in state funding to 23 hydrogen projects, Habeck announced that by 2040, Germany will need up to 380 TWh of hydrogen and about half of this demand will be met through domestic production.

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This projected domestic production will surpass current production levels of gas, oil, and coal, leading to a significant increase in Germany's energy independence, the minister noted.

Habeck outlined several corridors for importing hydrogen into Germany: from Denmark, Norway, Great Britain, Italy, the H2Med pipeline through France from Portugal and Spain with potential connections to Morocco, as well as potentially from the Baltic region, and the Balkans, including Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Ukraine.

The pipeline connection with Denmark is expected to be the fastest to implement, according to Habeck.

The next key steps are to first implement the import strategy, moving from plans to investment decisions in discussions with neighbouring countries, and to translate the power plant strategy into legislation.

A recent study by think tank Agora Energiewende showed that Germany could import between 60 TWh and 100 TWh of green hydrogen annually via pipelines by the mid-2030s if the necessary infrastructure is developed in time.