The companies bp, Gasunie, Nowega, NWO, Salzgitter, Thyssengas and Uniper are linking their hydrogen projects in northwest Germany. The aim of the alliance is to link Wilhelmshaven as a future location for hydrogen import and production with the industrial centres of consumption in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony.
While bp and Uniper are planning various projects for the import and production of hydrogen in Wilhelmshaven, Gasunie, Nowega, NWO and Thyssengas are contributing existing transport pipelines and plans for new H2 pipelines to be built to the overall project. Via a north-south corridor between Wilhelmshaven and the Cologne chemical region and a west-east corridor between Wilhelmshaven and Salzgitter, in addition to the hydrogen consumption sites of the companies bp and Salzgitter in the Rhine-Ruhr region and in Salzgitter, other companies are to be connected to the hydrogen infrastructure in the Rhine-Ruhr region and in Salzgitter (Lower Saxony). To this end, the participating companies have signed a letter of intent. By working together within the framework of legal and regulatory possibilities, the project partners support the ambitious goals of the German government to make Germany climate-neutral by 2045.
Integrated project planning along the H2 value chain
The companies are participating in the Alliance with various hydrogen projects. The planned projects thus represent the entire H2 value chain. In detail, the roles are distributed as follows:
bp and Uniper, as industrial producers and consumers of hydrogen, each intend to build an ammonia import terminal at the Wilhelmshaven site. The ammonia landed is then to be broken down into hydrogen and nitrogen on site by a thermo-chemical process ("cracking"). The green hydrogen bound in the ammonia will be recovered in this way. Ammonia as an H2 carrier enables the efficient transport of low-carbon hydrogen by ship over longer distances for use in Germany. In addition, Uniper is planning to build a large-scale electrolysis plant in Wilhelmshaven, which will produce green hydrogen using offshore wind power from the North Sea. Both bp and Uniper have submitted their projects to the European Commission as Projects of Mutual Interest (PMI) and Projects of Common Interest (PCI) respectively. The decision on recognition is expected this year.
At the end of February, Gasunie and Thyssengas made public their plans for an H2 North-South corridor between Wilhelmshaven and the chemical region of Cologne.The approximately 400-kilometre-long transport link is to be built by 2028 by converting existing transport pipelines and building new ones. Both Gasunie and Thyssengas have submitted PCI (Projects of Common Interest) applications to the European Commission for their respective sections. Through a connection to the Hyperlink hydrogen network planned by Gasunie in the north and the sub-projects of the GET H2 hydrogen initiative for which Nowega and Thyssengas are responsible, the planned north-south corridor will make a significant contribution to the development of an integrated hydrogen network. This will reach the bp refineries in the Emsland and Ruhr areas as well as many other potential H2 consumers along the route. In addition, Gasunie and Nowega are responsible for the development of the necessary west-east corridor to connect the partner and hydrogen consumer Salzgitter.
The infrastructure operators Nowega and NWO are also contributing parts of their existing pipeline network to the alliance. The conversion of the existing pipelines by Nowega and NWO considerably reduces the necessary need for new construction and makes it possible to reach further feeders and off-takers over a large area.
(Source: Thyssengas)
