HAMBURG: Germany’s gas grid operators have requested approval to build a 10,000-km hydrogen network, with first pipes set to be operational next year.

In one of the strongest steps yet toward establishing a hydrogen market, operators submitted an application for the €19.7bil (US$21.4bil) project, which envisages connecting key industrial hubs with electrolysers and storage sites.

Germany hopes to eventually replace most of its gas needs with hydrogen, which can be made using renewables.

The application marked “a decisive step toward building hydrogen infrastructure,” Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a statement.

Barbara Fischer, managing director of Germany’s Association of Gas Transmission System Operators, said it solves industry’s “chicken-and-egg problem,” with many players hesitating to invest in an unknown market.

The plans include building new lines as well as repurposing natural gas infrastructure for about 60% of the length, and should be finalised by 2032.

Germany aims to embed its core network into a wider European hydrogen infrastructure to reach the bloc’s goal of climate neutrality by 2050, with border crossing points installed early on, according to the economy ministry.

 - Bloomberg