Hamburg's hydrogen network to grow by 15 kilometres

More than a dozen large industrial natural gas consumers including the multi-metal supplier, Aurubis, have expressed interest in the supply and use of hydrogen to Gasnetz Hamburg, the company said. Jens Kerstan, Senator for the Environment, said: "We are pulling together to achieve Hamburg's climate goals swiftly and with a technology that makes economic sense and is ecologically climate-friendly." The grid creates a basis for securing jobs in Hamburg and initiating a rapid decarbonisation of industrial production processes, Kerstan added.

"We are pleased to be able to start detailed planning much earlier and to involve more partners than expected in December," said Udo Bottlaender, Technical Managing Director of Gasnetz Hamburg. The company and eight partners in the "Hydrogen Network Hamburg" are working on an application for European funding under the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI). "HH-WIN stands a good chance of receiving funding and thus an early start," said Christian Heine, Commercial Director of Gasnetz Hamburg. Industrial companies account for over a third of Hamburg's total natural gas consumption and could be connected to HH-WIN in the coming years, according to Gasnetz Hamburg.

If Hamburg feeds the required quantities of hydrogen produced from renewable energy sources into the grid, this holds huge potential for climate protection, according to forecasts. Hamburg's total CO2 emissions could be slashed by about 1.2 million tonnes per annum, if the present amount of natural gas energy - 6.4 terawatt hours or 6.4 billion kilowatt hours per annum - can be replaced by environment-friendly hydrogen,

tn/sb/pb