LONDON (ICIS)–The German association of gas
and hydrogen transmission system operators
(FNB), submitted on 15 November the draft for
the national hydrogen core network to the
Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate
Affairs (BMWK) and the Federal Network Agency
(BNetzA).

This move comes following the press conference
by Germany’s vice-chancellor, Robert Habeck,
and the chairman of the FNB, Thomas Gossmann,
on 14 November, when advancements on the draft
for the network strategy were presented.

PRELIMINARY CONTENT

The head of the BNetzA, Klaus Muller, said;
“The  government goal is to quickly ramp
up the hydrogen market”.

According to the FNB, this marks the next
milestone for the implementation of the core
hydrogen network.

The advancements included in the draft are the
following;

• Operational core network by 2032
• Optimised length of 9,700km
• The investment costs around €19.8bn
• 60% of transmission lines exist, and will
  come from conversion of gas pipes
• The entry and exit capacities are expected
  to be 100GW and 87GW respectively

STANCE FROM RELEVANT BODIES

The chairwoman of the German Energy and Water
Industry Association (BDEW), Kerstin Andrae,
said “It is good that the federal government is
moving forward courageously and decisively and
is supporting and enabling the construction of
a Germany-wide hydrogen core network by gas
network operators. Hydrogen is an essential
building block for a climate-neutral energy
supply and for the future of Germany as a
business location.”

The head of the FNB commented that “the draft
of the core network fulfils the goals anchored
in the Energy Industry Act (EnWG) amendment to
the hydrogen core network of a Germany-wide,
expandable, efficient and quickly realizable
hydrogen network by the target year 2032”, he
also added that “this puts Germany at the
forefront in Europe when it comes to building
infrastructure”.

On the other hand, the German association of
gas and hydrogen storage operators, INES, did
not reply at the time of writing to ICIS on its
position about the draft of the application.

NEXT STEPS

The following phase of the consultation process
is that the BNetzA will assess the draft and
prepare the approval process before law comes
into force.

Initial comments on the draft application can
be submitted until 8 January 2024 on the BNetzA

site.