GASCADE is planning extensive projects for the hydrogen transport infrastructure – initial measures as early as 2025
Kassel/Bonn. With the approval of the joint application of the transmission system operators, the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) has given the go: “We are pleased that investment security is now in place and that we can finally get down to business and make our contribution to the hydrogen ramp-up in Germany,” says Christoph von dem Bussche, Managing Director of GASCADE Gastransport GmbH (GASCADE). “We have been working on the planning for the implementation of the hydrogen transport projects for quite some time. Now we can actually get started – with the conversions of today's natural gas pipelines and the construction of new projects.”
GASCADE's goal is to open up import corridors in the North and Baltic Sea region for Germany and Europe and to transport the hydrogen to the consumption centers. The first large-scale transport capacities from the coast of the Baltic Sea to Saxony-Anhalt are to be created from 2025 by the Flow – making hydrogen happen program. The expansion into the Baltic Sea region and to western and southern Germany will follow in the years that come – including connections to neighboring European countries. To leverage the potential of hydrogen production on the high seas and to connect with the transport pipelines of neighboring countries in the North Sea, GASCADE is pushing forward with the planning of the AquaDuctus offshore pipeline. In addition to these two major projects, GASCADE will be opening up further German regions for hydrogen with additional infrastructure measures, thus providing significant support for the development of the hydrogen economy.
As Managing Director Ulrich Benterbusch emphasizes: “The hydrogen core network can only be a start. It certainly won't remain at around 9,000 kilometers of pipelines for hydrogen transport. It's the starting point for the real beginning of decarbonization. The soon availability of the transport infrastructure provides producers and customers with the certainty they need for own their investment decisions. As soon as these decisions are made, the energy transition will really pick up speed outside the field of power generation too – and GASCADE will be right in the center of it.”
About GASCADE
GASCADE Gastransport GmbH operates a gas pipeline network throughout Germany. The Kassel-based transmission system operator offers its customers modern and competitive transport services for natural gas and, in future, other gases in the heart of Europe via its own high-pressure pipeline network, which is around 3,700 kilometres long. GASCADE is pursuing the goal of successively converting its pipeline network to the transport of hydrogen and is therefore active in several onshore and offshore hydrogen projects.