"GET H2 Nucleus" is the first freely accessible hydrogen infrastructure in Germany to combine the generation, transport and purchase of green hydrogen, as this schematic illustration shows.

Source: obs / Nowega GmbH / GET H2

Everyone is talking about green hydrogen as a beacon of hope for the energy transition in Germany, even if there are only a few concrete projects on a large scale. The corresponding infrastructure for transporting green hydrogen is also lacking. But five industrial companies now want to change this. BP, Evonik, Nowega, OGE and RWE Generation signed a letter of intent to develop the "GET H2 Nucleus" project.

According to their own information from Tuesday, they want to build Germany's first publicly accessible hydrogen network between Gelsenkirchen in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lingen in Lower Saxony by the end of 2022. The green hydrogen will then be used to supply industrial companies in the two federal states, it was said. It is planned to generate the green hydrogen in a 100 megawatt RWE Generation electrolyser in Lingen. Then it should be transported to existing customers such as refineries or chemical parks in Lingen, Marl and Gelsenkirchen via existing gas pipelines from the network operators Nowega and OGE, some of which still need to be converted, as well as a new part from Evonik. The network should be available to dealers and consumers on a non-discriminatory basis.

However, companies also asked politicians to create the necessary legal framework that would enable the rapid expansion of green hydrogen production and the associated infrastructure. Above all, they would need investment security. In addition to the appropriate political framework, the economic ones would also have to be right to start the project by the end of 2022 if possible.

The supply of industrial companies with green hydrogen is one of the "low-hanging fruits" for a lower-carbon future. Many of these companies would already use large amounts of hydrogen in their production processes. By switching to green hydrogen, CO2 emissions could be reduced quickly and significantly. The construction of a hydrogen infrastructure based on the existing gas infrastructure guarantees exactly the security of supply to which industrial customers depend, as the project partners said. In the future, existing cavern storage facilities should be integrated along the hydrogen line. This would further increase security of supply.

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This article originally appeared on pv-magazine-germany.com and has been republished with permission by pv magazine (www.pv-magazine.com and www.pv-magazine-germany.com.)