RWE and OGE, a German gas transmission system operator, have unveiled a project to develop hydrogen infrastructure in the north of Germany, including electrolysers as well as storage and import plants, to connect the North Sea coast with industrial consumers in the west and south of Germany. Investments of about €3.5bn will be required for the national hydrogen infrastructure project named “H2ercules”.
RWE is planning to construct new electrolyser capacities of up to 1 GW by 2030 in the coastal regions of northwest Germany. The green hydrogen produced there will then be transported from the north to the steelworks, chemical plants and refineries in the Ruhr area and southern Germany. In addition, RWE intends to build at least 2 GW of H2-ready gas-fired power plants close to the planned H2ercules route and to connect its gas storage systems near the border with the Netherlands to the hydrogen pipeline. OGE will convert existing natural gas pipelines for hydrogen transport and build new pipelines.
In this way, a pipeline network of approximately 1,500 km can be created that fits into the Germany-wide hydrogen network planning. H2ercules is thus set to become the backbone of a hydrogen infrastructure linking. The first large companies, such as ThyssenKrupp, have already expressed their interest in being connected to such a grid. The project will be able to cover two-thirds of the hydrogen demand from the German industrial centres along the recommended route by 2030.