Kassel/Stuttgart (dpa/lsw) - Baden-Württemberg is to receive hydrogen from the Baltic Sea from a planned pipeline system from 2030. The three long-distance network operators Gascade, Ontras and Terranets BW want to set up a corresponding system in the south-west. It is assumed that northern Germany will become the center for hydrogen imports and hydrogen production on land and on water, Gascade announced on Thursday. "This quickly creates a significant need for transport to the south."
In a first step, lines are to be converted by 2025 in such a way that significant quantities can be transported from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to Thuringia. Conversions in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate are planned by 2028, so that from 2030 hydrogen can be transported to Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria.
For the most part, the project partners would convert existing natural gas pipelines. At the start, there are 1,100 kilometers of lines and a feed-in capacity of up to 20 gigawatts. It should be about climate-neutral hydrogen - i.e. hydrogen that is generated with wind power, for example.
The project is intended to offer European countries points of contact. This is mainly about the Baltic Sea region. In 2027, for example, there are plans to connect an offshore wind power hub on the Danish island of Bornholm. Connections to Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and France are planned from 2030.
The use of hydrogen is considered a key element for the energy transition. Energy that is produced in as climate-neutral a manner as possible is to be stored in it and made usable in a variety of ways. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, plants for importing and generating hydrogen are planned on the Baltic Sea, for example in Rostock and Lubmin near Greifswald.
