Hanover (energate) - The transmission system operator Gasunie is entering the implementation phase with the hydrogen project HyPerLink. Between Bremen and Hamburg, the company is starting to convert the first 54-kilometre-long gas pipeline section. The network operator is making advance payments of around 10 million euros. Hyperlink was
nominated as a German project for European
IPCEI funding in May 2021, but Gasunie announced that the EU has not yet committed to funding the project.
The hydrogen pipeline Hyperlink is to reach a total length of around 660 kilometres and connect the Netherlands with Germany and Denmark (
energate reported). Gasunie wants to realise around 500 kilometres of the backbone by converting the existing natural gas network. "We will make the existing transport system H2-ready by replacing outdated fittings and measurement equipment and adapting measurement and control technology," explains Hans Jonk, managing director of Gasunie Energy Development GmbH. The network operator will begin the preparatory work for this in the coming weeks. The actual start of construction will then take place in summer 2023.
New company bundles German hydrogen activities
The year 2023 is crucial in order to keep to the schedule for the realisation of the first two hyperlink sections, Jonk emphasised. That is why Gasunie cannot wait any longer for the funding commitment. "The switch from natural gas to hydrogen at economically responsible costs will only succeed if we actively drive forward the transformation of the existing transport system," said the managing director of Gasunie Energy Development GmbH. Gasunie is bundling its hydrogen activities in Germany in the company, which will be founded at the end of 2022. The company is closely linked to the Dutch Gasunie organisation, so that a high degree of integration is guaranteed between the development of a
Dutch H2 backbone that has already begun and the Hyperlink project, it says. /tc
