International cooperation

Hydrogen for German markets

In March 2023 the Danish and German Governments signed a declaration with the aim of realising a cross-border hydrogen infrastructure by 2028. Energinet is coordinating very closely with Gasunie Deutschland's project, and joint coordination has therefore been established, with focus on realising a cross-border hydrogen infrastructure.

Hydrogen in the North- and Baltic Sea regions

Denmark has a key position in relation to realising the potential for renewable energy expansion and hydrogen infrastructure establishment in both the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.

The gas TSOs in the North Sea countries have prepared a declaration regarding the development of hydrogen infrastructure. Several of the projects are well underway. The cooperation has been established as a result of the Declarations of State and Energy from the Esbjerg and Ostend summits in 2022 and 2023 on exploiting the good and large renewable energy potential in the North Sea. As an integrated electricity, gas and hydrogen TSO, Energinet has a strong focus on the synergies that will exist between a balanced electricity and hydrogen expansion.

In the Baltic Sea, a similar dialogue is taking place between the Gas TSOs on joint cooperation with a view to realising the great RE potential in this area. This dialogue is anchored through the Marienborg Declaration and the projects registered for PCI (Projects of Common Interest) status in December 2022. As a consequence of the closed ‘Open Door projects’ at Bornholm, Energinet have chosen to follow and participate in the collaboration, but not be the driving party.

European Hydrogen Backbone

The European Hydrogen Backbone (EHB) is an initiative driven by a number of European gas TSOs, which aims to accelerate Europe's green transition by defining the role hydrogen infrastructure plays in enabling the development of a competitive, pan-European market for hydrogen by promoting cooperation between European countries.

Energinet has been part of the EHB initiative since the first report was published in early 2020 and has since actively contributed to the development of a pan-European vision for hydrogen infrastructure. From the outset, the group consisted of 11 European gas TSOs who developed a vision for a broadly branched European hydrogen infrastructure, which was largely based on the reuse of parts of the existing natural gas infrastructure and which could therefore be realised more cost-effectively. The cooperation has since been expanded and currently consists of 33 European gas TSOs. The original vision has been further developed, and today several elements of the vision have become actual projects, The Danish-German connection for example.

Read more about the initiative here, where there are also short illustrations of the EHB visions as well as a number of reports published by the participants.

ENTSOG

ENTSOG and ENTSO-E are central to European TSO cooperation on the development of the pan-European gas and electricity systems. They jointly develop 10-year network development plans (TYNDPs) and common scenarios – key tools for Europe's energy infrastructure planning. From 2023, TYNDP will also comprise the pan-European hydrogen networks, which is why Energinet's commitment to ENTSOG, in particular, is important in the preparation of the hydrogen infrastructure in Europe. Read more on ENTSOG's website here.