Danish-German hydrogen network – Energinet and Gasunie intensifiy the dialogue with the market
Energinet – on behalf of the future hydrogen infrastructure operator(s) in Denmark – and Gasunie are asking interested market parties to support their projects submitted for Projects-of-Common-Interest (PCI) status, HYD-N-1001 and HYD-N-1236, in the European Commission's consultation, which runs until March 16, 2023. In addition to the European consultation of the submitted PCI applications, the next step is the publication of a market assessment report. The report provides information about development of market framework and market potentials for green hydrogen since the publication of the joint Pre-Feasibility Study in April 2021 and forms the basis for further activities.
The two companies have submitted for their respective parts of the cross-border Infrastructure applications for Projects-of-Common-Interest (PCI) status Mid of December 2022.This would provide priority access to EU funding and streamlined permitting. PCI status is reserved for energy infrastructure projects of strategic importance to the EU's energy policy objectives. The two companies ask interested market parties to support these projects HYD-N-1001 and HYD-N-1236, included in the European Commission's consultation, which runs until March 16, 2023 (Consultation on the list of candidate Projects of Common Interest in all infrastructure categories (europa .eu).
"The close hydrogen cooperation with Energinet puts the German-Danish relation, which has been tried and tested for decades, on a future-proof basis. This is made possible by the well-developed, high-performance infrastructure that already connects us today. This will enable us to make full use of part of the enormous renewable energy resources in Denmark,” explains Hans Jonk, Managing Director of Gasunie Energy Development GmbH, who is responsible for developing the Gasunie hydrogen infrastructure in Germany.
"In the coming months, we will intensify the dialogue with the market and share more information about the process," says Stine Grenaa Jensen, Vice President for System Development in Energinet. "It will not be easy to realize a project at this scale in an immature hydrogen market. We believe it can be done, but it requires close cooperation between network operators, authorities, and the market."
These type of projects can potentially have significant impact for the green transition and energy security in Europe. Energinet - on behalf of the future hydrogen network operator (s) in Denmark – is working on a hydrogen transmission backbone that connects green hydrogen production sites in Jutland with Germany and a future cavern storage facility. The suggested backbone will cover approximately 360 km of hydrogen network.
Gasunie, for its part, is developing the Hyperlink project in Germany, a 770 km long hydrogen network that connects important production sites with large industrial consumption centers. Hyperlink enables hydrogen imports from Denmark to Germany and access to large scale hydrogen storage in the future, thanks to cooperation with storage operators such as Storengy's project SaltHy.
