To speed up the preparations for cross-border H₂ infrastructure between Denmark and Germany, Søren Dupont Kristensen, CEO of Energinet Systemansvar, and Jens Schuman, CEO of Gasunie Deutschland, signed a MoU on August 31.

The preparatory activities outlined in the MoU include a coordinated approach to grid development based on the results of the prefeasibility study and the latest market developments in both supply and demand. Energinet and Gasunie will also analyze and outline the crucial decision gates on the way to final investment decisions.

H₂ infrastructure enables us to fully exploit and export some of the huge renewable energy sources in Denmark and deliver on the Esbjerg agreement. At Energinet, we already feel a strong market interest in being able to supply the German H₂ market with green H₂ produced in Denmark - and the ambition is to realize this before 2030. A lot must fall into place before then, so I am very happy that we are now committing us to speed up the preparatory efforts and thereby support European energy supply security," said Søren Dupont Kristensen.

Strengthened cooperation on H₂

In May 2022, Germany, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands set a joint target of delivering at least 65 GW of offshore wind power in 2030 and increasing capacity to at least 150 GW in 2050. In connection with the so-called Esbjerg agreement, the Danish and German governments entered a declaration of intent to a strengthened cooperation on green H₂, including investigating a potential pipeline for H₂ export from Denmark to Germany.

The strategic value of an intensified H₂ collaboration between Denmark and Germany lies in the well-developed, high-performance infrastructure that already connects the two neighboring countries. It gives us direct access to Danish green H₂ sources - without conversion to intermediate energy carriers such as ammonia," said Gasunie Deutschland's CEO Jens Schumann.

Last year, Energinet and Gasunie Deutschland carried out a techno-economic prefeasibility study which showed that Denmark could potentially supply 10-25% of the future German hydrogen demand. Since then, ambitious political agreements on Power-to-X and massive expansion of renewable energy have been made in the Folketing. Therefore, Energinet has initiated a feasibility study that examines the possibility of a "hydrogen backbone" in the western part of Denmark, including infrastructure for export to Germany. 

Good cooperation

Energinet and Gasunie have a long and good collaboration. Over the decades, gas has been transported back and forth between Denmark and Germany in different ways - it started with exports from Germany to Denmark, followed by a longer export period from Denmark to Germany and in recent years again with exports to Denmark. It is expected that a large part of the H₂ backbone between the two countries can be based on the conversion of existing gas transmission pipelines. 

In both countries, the development of the legislative framework is an ongoing process. As it is still unclear who will be the H₂ network operator(s), Energinet and Gasunie have signed the MoU on behalf of the future Danish and German H₂ network operator(s).