Press releases

‘Our strategically viable pipeline projects will bring climate-neutral hydrogen to eastern and central Germany. Our work will make a substantial contribution to the decarbonisation of industry and to the market ramp-up of a hydrogen economy’, explains Ralph Bahke, ONTRAS Managing Director of Steering and Development.

The first step will see ONTRAS building approximately 600 kilometres of hydrogen transport pipelines in central Germany, the ONTRAS H2 starter network. About 80 per cent of the work will take the form of the conversion of existing gas pipelines; about 20 per cent will be new construction. Initially, ONTRAS will connect the Leipzig region with the central German chemical triangle: the industrial centres in Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony, the Berlin area and the Meissen industrial arc. The Germany-wide hydrogen core network is scheduled for completion by 2032; investments will total around €19 billion.

The first section of its hydrogen network has seen ONTRAS converting a 25-kilometre-long pipeline for the transport of green hydrogen as part of the Energiepark Bad Lauchstädt project funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection. ‘This pilot project for the conversion of an existing pipeline to hydrogen is extremely valuable for us. We have gained valuable experience here, which will save us time and labour when converting other gas pipelines for the transport of hydrogen. Next year’s operational start-up will also be a source of concrete operating experience for future projects’, says Gunar Schmidt, ONTRAS Managing Director for Operations and Safety. ONTRAS will connect its first customer, TotalEnergies Raffinerie Mitteldeutschland, to the hydrogen core network in 2025. Contractual agreements for the full length of the supply chain have already been concluded.

‘We are delighted that ONTRAS can now begin the concrete realisation of these ambitious projects. The participation in the hydrogen core network represents the largest single investment in VNG’s 65-year history. At the same time, it is the largest independent decarbonisation project for the VNG Group to date’, adds Hans-Joachim Polk, Chief Infrastructure & Technology Officer of VNG AG and ONTRAS Supervisory Board chairman. ‘Our efforts here represent our first major contribution to shaping a climate-neutral energy future for the economy and society as well as for future generations. Nevertheless, continued improvements in the financial framework conditions for investors in particular are required for us to be able to expand and develop further the ONTRAS hydrogen network in line with demand and to close gaps’.

Expansion already planned

ONTRAS has anchored further pipeline projects, for which the company serves as a contact partner, in the core network. These projects are to be implemented via the integrated Gas/Hydrogen Network Development Plan (NDP), which ensures efficient network development in line with demand on the basis of the scenario framework. ‘The approximately 600 kilometres of our H2 starter network now being realised are the first step on the way to an H2 transport infrastructure functioning nationwide. This process is managed transparently and in line with demand on the basis of the NEP. It is important that producers and buyers come together without delay to conclude sound contracts so that they can strengthen the market ramp-up and we can simultaneously develop our network’, explains Ralph Bahke.