Munich, 23 February 2021. –The Munich-based transmission system operator bayernets GmbH supports aspirations to ramp up a high-performance hydrogen industry in Europe. Together with Open Grid Europe GmbH (OGE), bayernets has developed the HyPipe Bavaria project proposal with the aim of connecting hydrogen sources with high-demand regions in Bavaria using existing transmission pipelines or pipeline routes. In this way, large volumes of green hydrogen could be made available in the Ingolstadt and Burghausen regions in future. A corresponding provisional project outline was submitted by bayernets GmbH and OGE within the framework of the Expression of Interest procedure for funding in the area of IPCEI (IPCEI = Important Project of Common European Interest) Hydrogen of the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy.
“We would like to make a substantial contribution to decarbonising the supply of energy with our infrastructure. The HyPipe Bavaria project proposal could provide a significant building block in the implementation of a hydrogen value chain for Bavaria and Germany. We are con-vinced that a hydrogen infrastructure is key to the energy transition in Europe”, explains Dr. Matthias Jenn, Managing Director of bayernets GmbH.
The starting point for the potential HyPipe Bavaria project is to cover the demand for hydro-gen in Germany and Europe by importing green hydrogen by ship. The HyPipe Bavaria project proposal will thus advance the pan-European IPCEI project “Green Hydrogen @ Blue Danube” and other Bavarian IPCEI projects in Burghausen and Ingolstadt. To this end, existing gas pipe-lines could be converted to hydrogen use in the medium term and new pipeline infrastructure could be created. The aim of the HyPipe Bavaria project proposal is to support transition from using fossil fuels to the industrial use of hydrogen. With HyPipe Bavaria, development of a hydrogen infrastructure could begin in Bavaria in the near future.
On the one hand, the project envisages the creation of a high-performance hydrogen network to connect the landing terminals for green hydrogen to be developed within the framework of the IPCEI projects “Green Hydrogen @ Blue Danube” in Regensburg with future consumption centres in the Ingolstadt region.
On the other hand, the industrial location of Burghausen/Burgkirchen in the south east of Bavaria could be connected via the cross-border point Überackern to the Austrian hydrogen Seite 2 von 3 network planned by Gas Connect Austria GmbH (GCA) according to their Expression of Interest in the Austrian IPCEI process. Überackern/Burghausen is already an established cross-border point in the European transmission system. The construction of a hydrogen pipeline envisaged in HyPipe Bavaria would offer the opportunity to connect Überackern/Burghausen with the network node in Haiming in parallel to existing pipeline routes. Hydrogen could then be supplied to the region of Burghausen/Burgkirchen from the network node in Haiming using existing gas pipelines. These would also be available for connecting further industrial customers on a non-discriminatory basis.
With a network length of approximately 1,660 km and an average pipeline diameter of DN 550, bayernets is one of the large transmission system operators in Germany. As a transmission system operator, bayernets takes responsibility for its gas transmission system in Bavaria and offers its customers the highest level of supply security and quality. At the same time, bayernets makes a significant contribution to optimising gas transmission in southern Germany and neighbouring countries. The company ensures the performance of its transmission system by trouble-free operation, pipeline optimisation that is aligned with demand and sustainable network development.