The European Commission (EC) has announced that it has approved German state funding worth an estimated €3 billion to support the construction of a hydrogen core network and a dedicated pipeline in Germany.
The German government plans to allocate €3 billion to contribute to the construction of a domestic hydrogen network, which will be the foundation of long-distance hydrogen pipelines in the country and be included in the European network connecting several member states. Also, the funding will be used to boost investments for this purpose, under which existing natural gas pipelines will be converted into hydrogen pipelines and new pipelines along with compressor stations will be constructed.
Initially, the government expects that a limited number of users will use the network and that the tariffs will be lower in order to encourage hydrogen use.
The first major pipeline within the core network is scheduled to be available from 2025, with the entire network expected to be completed in 2032.