Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) German power utility RWE and Norwegian energy company Equinor are planning to build a hydrogen pipeline and production chains.
The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding in January to develop energy infrastructure in line with the green transition, according to Reuters reported on Thursday.
RWE and Equinor are planning to develop blue hydrogen projects in Norway and build offshore wind farms to feed green hydrogen production. Green hydrogen is produced from renewables and blue is produced from natural gas with the use of carbon capture and storage.
Germany is planning to phase out coal and replace it with Equinor’s natural gas, which will help the country to produce blue hydrogen on large scale.
According to plans, RWE and Equinor will build the natural gas and hydrogen networks by the end of the decade. The companies plan to have gas-fired power plants ready to switch to hydrogen as they develop infrastructure for green hydrogen production.
Germany largest EU consumer
Germany consumes approximately 22% of hydrogen in the EU or roughly 1.7 million tonnes per year.
RWE pointed out that it is cooperating on more than 30 hydrogen projects with its partners and stressed that the company has experience with the production and storage of hydrogen, renewables, and energy trading.
As part of the plan, Equinor is to increase production capacity for blue hydrogen in Norway to 2 GW by 2030 and further to up to 10 GW by 2038.
Equinor pointed out that the transition towards green hydrogen will largely be fuelled by gas produced in Norway, stressing that the country’s gas production makes large-scale hydrogen production possible.
Norwegian state-owned gas pipeline operator Gassco is conducting a feasibility study for a hydrogen pipeline from Norway to Germany, noting that the study is to be completed later this year.
The company noted that it could convert an existing gas pipeline or build a new pipeline for hydrogen, adding that studies conducted thus far show that the gas pipeline network can be used to move hydrogen.
The proof of concept project will be the planned hydrogen pipeline to Heligoland, a German archipelago in the North Sea, to be completed by 2028 and guide the two companies’ expansion of the hydrogen network.