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DE 
Ulrich Wolf
Dresden/Leipzig. The Federal Network Agency has approved the construction of a central hydrogen pipeline network. The Saxon municipalities of Dresden, Leipzig and Meißen are among the starting regions. Lusatia and Zwickau are to be connected in the future. The construction of the core network should be largely completed by 2032 and cost around 19 billion euros.
Saxony's Economics Minister Martin Dulig (SPD) described the development of the hydrogen network as a "positive signal for Saxony as a business location". The first energy-intensive companies could thus secure their energy supply with hydrogen in the future. The Federal Network Agency's decision means that there is now planning security.
The world's largest and most powerful hydrogen pipeline system is being created
Martin Dulig, Saxon Minister of Economic Affairs
According to Dulig, around 9,000 kilometers are to be built "in the near future". This would create the largest and most powerful hydrogen pipeline system in the world. It will also become "the backbone for the development of the European hydrogen network". Transition points to neighboring countries are planned.
Saxony's Energy Minister Wolfram Günther (Alliance 90/Greens) described the regions of Leipzig and Meißen as "real beacons of the core network". The hydrogen economy is "a huge economic opportunity for Saxony and of enormous strategic importance".
Bernhard Herrmann (Alliance 90/Greens), member of the Bundestag for Saxony, said that the Federal Ministry of Economics and the Network Agency had "in a record time of two and a half years put in place what the CDU had only talked about for years".
The Leipzig-based company Ontras Gastransport GmbH, a subsidiary of Verbundnetz Gas AG (VNG), is in charge of the implementation. Ontras manager Ralph Bake said that the hydrogen network would make "a substantial contribution to the decarbonization of the industry". VNG Executive Board member Hans-Joachim Polk emphasized that the investment in the hydrogen core network was the largest single investment in VNG's 65-year history.
Initially, around 600 kilometers of hydrogen transport pipelines will be built in central Germany, Ontras said. Around 80 percent of this will be achieved by converting existing gas pipelines, while the rest will have to be built from scratch. Initially, the connection between the Leipzig region and the central German chemical triangle, the Berlin area and the Meißen industrial arc will be established. The Total Energies refinery in Leuna is scheduled to be the first customer in 2025,
Another partner in the project is Sachsen-Netze in Dresden. Its head, Steffen Heine, said that the hydrogen connections would primarily serve companies in the Meißen industrial arc, power and heating plants as well as major customers in the north of Dresden and the surrounding municipalities. The initial investment volume here amounts to a total of around 100 million euros. The conversion of the company's own gas network can now be planned more concretely. The gradual conversion of the regional distribution networks to hydrogen is to take place from 2032 to 2045.
