Danish-German hydrogen pipeline delayed by three years

Danish electricity and gas transmission system operator Energinet has postponed the planned commissioning date for the first cross-border hydrogen pipeline into Germany to the end of 2031 (from 2028). In addition, key connections within Denmark would now be commissioned by 2032 and 2033, said Energinet. It said that the land-based pipeline project is more complex from a technical and market perspective, that more time is needed because of changes to the capacity bidding process, and that there are longer planning and environmental permit processes.

Denmark’s climate, energy and utilities minister Lars Aagaard called the new timeline “far from ideal” and added that his government “is keen to ensure an efficient interaction between the great amounts of renewable electricity from the ongoing offshore wind tenders, the production of green hydrogen and the German demand.” His ministry remains positive in its expectations that Germany will demand large volumes of green hydrogen. “The signal from Germany is strong,” it said. “There will be great demand for green hydrogen transported through the Danish-German hydrogen infrastructure.”

The project, agreed in March 2023, is intended to become the first cross-border hydrogen pipeline to Germany. The German government had bet on the speedy realisation of the pipeline project with Denmark to “provide an important impetus for other cross-border hydrogen projects,” as it said in its hydrogen import strategy adopted in summer 2024. 

Green hydrogen is set to play a crucial role in the decarbonisation of many hard-to-abate sectors, such as steelmaking or the chemical industry. But Germany is unlikely to cover the entire projected demand with local production.