GASCADE and Fluxys as long-standing partners in pipeline infrastructure join forces in two key projects for shaping the hydrogen economy in Germany: doing hydrogen and AquaDuctus. These infrastructure projects are to connect hydrogen demand centres with onshore and offshore hydrogen production, making a major contribution to Germany’s decarbonisation efforts.

Doing hydrogen is the large-scale pipeline project to kick-start the hydrogen market in eastern Germany, planned to be operational by 2027. The GASCADE-Fluxys project involves a strategic 50-kilometre new-built hydrogen pipeline from the area of Rostock on the Baltic Sea going southwards as part of the eastern German hydrogen grid. This infrastructure will create a powerful hydrogen hub connecting hydrogen production, storage and demand centers.

AquaDuctus is a large-scale phased offshore pipeline project for efficiently carrying hydrogen produced from wind farms in the North Sea onto the German onshore hydrogen grid. The first phase of AquaDuctus, connecting the first offshore electrolysers with the island of Heligoland, is planned to be operational end of 2026. In its subsequent stages the AquaDuctus offshore pipeline system is to develop into a main hydrogen corridor moving up to one million tons of hydrogen into Germany by 2035.

Both GASCADE-Fluxys hydrogen pipeline projects are key building-blocks for achieving the decarbonisation targets in the EU Green Deal and the recent RePower EU package. They have therefore been shortlisted by the Federal Ministry for Economics and Climate Action as Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI).

“In realising these projects, we are contributing to the decarbonisation efforts of Germany and the EU. We are actively shaping the future hydrogen market by providing the necessary infrastructure for a timely ramp up of the hydrogen economy in Germany,” emphasises GASCADE Managing Director Christoph von dem Bussche.

“At the heart of Fluxys’ strategy is our commitment to provide the infrastructure required to help achieve the net zero target,” says Fluxys Managing Director and CEO Pascal De Buck. “Both GASCADE-Fluxys hydrogen pipeline projects are important pieces of the puzzle that needs to get laid out for the green transition. They perfectly fit with the vision of a European hydrogen backbone as key infrastructure to successfully and efficiently make the decarbonisation journey.”