(Montel) Norwegian gas TSO Gassco is mulling a pipeline to Germany, which could be ready in 2030 and deliver up to 4m tonnes of hydrogen a year.
At maximum capacity, the pipeline could handle hydrogen equivalent to an installed capacity of 18 GW, depending on the quality of the hydrogen, Gassco project manager Odd Even Jakobsen told Montel.
That would require 130-160 TWh of power to produce blue hydrogen using natural gas, or around 230 TWh for green hydrogen using an electrolyser capacity of 26.5 GW in continuous operation, according to calculations from energy major Equinor and consultants Greenstat.
Gassco’s feasibility study, which kicked off earlier this year, is being carried out in collaboration with Norwegian and German players and will be completed in the spring.
The system operator does not plan to build the pipeline itself but instead will assess whether the project is commercially and technically feasible.
Thirteen companies are participating in the transport part of the study and will look at whether existing North Sea pipelines can be used and repurposed or if new ones should be built.
Blue hydrogen
Large-scale production of blue hydrogen was necessary to be able to carry out this type of industrial project, said Jakobsen.
The EU aims to produce 10m tonnes of renewable green hydrogen and import a corresponding amount by 2030.
Gassco has previously estimated that Norwegian hydrogen production could offer a capacity equivalent to 2-3 GW by 2030, which corresponds to around 0.5m tonnes of hydrogen, or around 5% of the EU’s import needs.
A hydrogen pipeline from Norway to Germany could cost at least NOK 20bn (EUR 1.9bn), Montel reported previously.
(EUR 1 = NOK 10.26)
