Because natural gas is becoming more and more expensive, new energy sources such as hydrogen are coming into focus. Produced in a climate-neutral manner, it could replace gas. The technology is still too expensive – but the Ukraine war of all things could change that. - GlobeEcho

White steel pipes lie in the light brown floor. At the front, excavators tear up the earth, at the back they fill it up again. In between, workers kneel, stand and lie on the ground while they gradually weld the 28-kilometer pipeline together. The Neckar-Enztal line is intended to connect Wiernsheim and Bietigheim-Bissingen in Baden-Württemberg. Thomas Grote and his team from terranets bw manage up to 400 meters a day.

We will go into operation at the end of the year, in December.

says the deputy project manager

Then natural gas should first flow through the pipes. From 2030, however, the Neckar-Enztal line is to become part of a 250-kilometer-long hydrogen pipeline that stretches from Hesse via Baden-Württemberg to Bavaria.

Hydrogen as an alternative to natural gas

The plans for a European hydrogen network are gaining momentum due to the war in Ukraine and the increased price of natural gas. And the European Commission also associates hydrogen with the hope of replacing natural gas, coal and oil in industry and in the transport sector. According to the Commission, up to 20 million tons of hydrogen are to be transported in the EU in 2030. That’s why you have to accelerate the expansion of the infrastructure.

This creates a new market for the operators of natural gas pipelines. They have already formulated the first goals: by 2040, the European gas network operators want to make 53,000 kilometers of pipeline available for hydrogen transport. According to the gas network operator initiative “European Hydrogen Backbone”, many former natural gas pipelines could simply be converted for this purpose. However, some lines would also have to be rebuilt.

Germany is a net import country

In principle, green hydrogen is able to replace fossil fuels such as natural gas.

Karsten Lemmer from the German Aerospace Center

The qualified electrical engineer is a member of the National Hydrogen Council, which advises the federal government. The committee sees hydrogen as an energy carrier that can make “a significant contribution to achieving climate protection goals”.

In order for Germany to remain competitive, the members of the Hydrogen Council recommend a “rapid ramp-up of the hydrogen economy” and a rapid expansion of the infrastructure. “As far as energy is concerned, Germany is a net importing country. We are noticing that very painfully. And it will also be the case in the future that the need for green hydrogen cannot be met with ‘on-board resources’,” says Lemmer. Significant quantities will also have to be imported in the future.

“Crude Oil of the Future”

To put it simply, hydrogen is produced by splitting water using electricity – the process is called electrolysis. If electricity from renewable energies is used for this, hydrogen is considered “green”. The great advantage of hydrogen: it can store energy and transport it over long distances with almost no loss.

That’s a big difference to green electricity. While electricity is ideally generated and consumed locally, hydrogen can be generated anywhere in the world that has a lot of sun and wind at the moment. It can then be transported via pipelines and ships to where a lot of energy is needed – for example to Germany. Hydrogen is practically the crude oil of the future.

Markus Hölzle from the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW) in Ulm

The Neckar-Enztal line will initially be used to transport natural gas. Later, hydrogen will also be passed through.

on tagesschau.de economist Claudia Kemfert from the German Institute for Economic Research recently described hydrogen as an expensive and scarce energy source. He is the “champagne of the energy transition”. Researcher Hölzle knows the discussion: “If you want to make hydrogen from green electricity in Germany, then you have relatively expensive green electricity available because Germany has relatively little sun and wind.” That’s why you have to relocate hydrogen production abroad: “Now go to other regions like the Middle East, Saudi Arabia. If you set up a photovoltaic system there, you can already get the electricity produced today for one cent per kilowatt hour.” The goal must therefore be that electricity is stored there in hydrogen and transported to Germany via pipelines.

Economy adapts to hydrogen

Industry is also preparing for the increased use of hydrogen. At the automotive supplier ElringKlinger in Dettingen, for example, fuel cells for hydrogen drives are now being developed in addition to cylinder head gaskets that are needed for combustion engines.

The idea was to have a substitute product when the number of cylinder head gaskets required was reduced.

CEO Stefan Wolf. The technology has been researched for 20 years

Because Germany also wants to benefit from the hydrogen revolution in terms of industrial policy. The “National Hydrogen Strategy”, which was formulated by the old federal government, states: “Germany wants to position itself as a leading provider of green hydrogen technologies on the world market.”