“The network is the prerequisite for Hamburg’s hydrogen ecosystem” Interview with Gasnetz Hamburg regarding HH-WIN

Ms Höfs, please briefly explain what the Hamburg Hydrogen Industry Network is and who it will benefit.

HH-WIN is an independent distribution network, initially 40 kilometres long in Hamburg Süd, that will supply energy-intensive companies with hydrogen from 2027. During phase two, the pipeline will be increased to 60 kilometres, for which the technical preliminary planning is already underway. The decarbonisation potential in the primary commodities and raw materials industry is extremely high in the Port of Hamburg: 580,000 tons of CO2 per year can already be saved during phase one and this will increase to as much as 1.4 million tons from 2031 during phase 2.

You recently received confirmation of government funding. Where do you currently stand and what are the next steps?

Receiving confirmation of funding is a huge result for our company, which we celebrated accordingly. An interdisciplinary team worked on this for over three years and examined various issues - a herculean task. We’d never experienced such a complex process before, which led to unprecedented requirements for us.

The planning processes have now progressed and the first pan-European tender for our subcontractors has also been issued. From now on, it’s important for us that we can access the funding – this gives us financial security and our customers can plan with confidence. The handbrake has been released and we’re now focussing on obtaining permits and intensifying our tenders.

Building is officially scheduled to commence in mid-August, but the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs had already agreed that we could start work ahead of schedule at the end of July 2022 prior to the EU notification. This has allowed us to bring forward some of the work, such as in areas where other construction work is already taking place. This means that building works will not take place twice in these locations and there will be limited restrictions for traffic and residents. Larger new building sites will start this year between Waltershof and Altenwerder, as well as in Moorburger Straße/Seehafenstraße and Am Radeland. Other major construction projects will begin in the next two years – according to the plans, we’ll build the sections through Harburg and the connection to the core hydrogen network in Leversen (Lower Saxony) from 2025. Likewise, construction for the connection to the Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub in Moorburg will also start from 2025. The funding conditions stipulate completion by 2027, which is why we have to guarantee the connection to the pipeline system and large-scale electrolyser by then.
Overall, we’re dividing our initial network into four major sections: section A towards Finkenwerder is home to the aluminium and aviation industries. Section B near the A7 covers port logistics, steel and maritime imports. Section C represents the connection between the port and hydrogen pipelines near Leversen. And section D will cover refinery and chemical locations towards Harburg.     

What are your expansion plans beyond the initial network?

We’re already planning the additional 20 kilometres east of Süderelbe. And we also envisage other network clusters outside the port in future. From around 2030, more industrial areas in Hamburg could be connected to green hydrogen.

Is there a similar distribution network anywhere that you were able to learn from?

What makes Hamburg’s hydrogen ecosystem unique is the spatial proximity of import, production and major consumers – so the entire value chain is located within a small area. The network is the prerequisite for this. Elsewhere, there are local networks that conditionally serve as precedents. However, our plans are very transparent – this is also part of the funding conditions – and will be shared with other network operators. There will be workshops and liaison meetings throughout the entire project, which is why we assume that Hamburg will act as a role model for other locations.

Will the construction of the network lead to restrictions for those living and working in Hamburg? What will the building work involve?

Of course, we aim to minimise the impact on traffic and residents and are working closely with the responsible authorities. Wherever possible, we’re installing the pipeline in ancillary areas rather than roads and using new techniques such as micro-tunnelling. And remember that we’re mainly building in commercial areas of Hamburg, where very few residents live.

Can you provide some technical details?

In the HH-WIN area, there are no redundancies in our municipal natural gas network, so there are no sections that we can repurpose for hydrogen. In this early phase, we have to build almost everything from scratch, as the parallel supply of natural gas and hydrogen is currently unavoidable. We’re laying pipes with diameters of DN 200 to DN 500, i.e. 20 to 50 centimetres. These are hydrogen-certified steel pipes with pressures of maximum 25, and/or maximum 70 bar in some places, at the junctions to the hydrogen pipeline system. We potentially expect to transport three TWh/a of energy in phase one and 6.4 TWh/a in phase two. In comparison, Hamburg’s entire natural gas consumption was 21 TWh/a prior to the energy crisis.

What should a company do in order to be connected to the network?

We’ll operate HH-WIN without discrimination – just like the natural gas network. This essentially means that anyone who needs or wants to supply hydrogen in the network area can be connected. In most cases, pressure regulators will need to be installed at our customers premises, and we’ll also take care of their planning and construction. Interested companies can contact H2 Customer Service directly via the HH-WIN website: www.gasnetz-hamburg.de/hh-win

Are there any further plans to use hydrogen in the gas network?

Based on the current technological and economic conditions, hydrogen will initially and predominantly be used for the decarbonisation of industrial applications. For these reasons, hydrogen currently has a limited role in supplying heat for buildings, but we regularly evaluate this. That’s why we’re currently pushing ahead with the H₂-SWITCH100 project. We’ve chosen a representative section of our natural gas network in Hamburg-Heimfeld for this and are currently examining its suitability for conversion to hydrogen. There are 16 connections in the pilot area, including 14 households and commercial properties. An expert is currently assessing the hydrogen capability of this network, as well as the retrofitting time and effort this will require. The results are expected at the end of the summer, when we’ll know more about the feasibility, as well as the cost and effort, of a possible conversion. The pipes were built at various times and are made of different materials, so we are gaining comprehensive insights that can be widely transferred to our network. If we do go ahead with this project, depending on the expert’s opinion, we’ll test the area for hydrogen operation following conversion; this will be done either via a connection to HH-WIN or using cylinder bundles to supply hydrogen. Such a solution could be a supply option in a few years under certain site conditions, such as structural obstacles or the inability to undertake energy-related renovations, for example, provided there are no network restrictions and there are anchor customers in the area. But I won’t deny that it’s currently hard to assess whether hydrogen will play a role in supplying heat and if so what that may be. Our focus is therefore clearly on supplying industry and commerce and/or generating local and district heating.

In your view, what’s critical for the successful implementation of the project?

For us, it’s crucial that the necessary permits are granted quickly so that we can meet the deadlines required for funding eligibility. This project has the advantage of being of paramount public interest as a hydrogen infrastructure project, which enables priority processing by the approval authorities and facilitates the necessary trade-offs. We’re also reliant on lots of service providers from the civil engineering and pipeline construction sectors. This also creates a bottleneck, as many companies are due to implement large-scale construction projects in the years ahead. Our advantage is that relevant providers have the opportunity to work on the H2 future and establish important credentials.

What challenges do your employees face when handling hydrogen compared to natural gas?

A gas pipeline is ultimately a gas pipeline. The new testing methods and equipment will require a certain amount of effort and training is already underway. The applicable technical regulations are being developed by DVGW (Deutsche Verein des Gas- und Wasserfaches e.V.) and we’re working closely with them.

How will the network charges be allocated during the initial phase?

In addition to the IPCEI funding, we’ve also applied to be included in the 9,700 kilometre core network. A uniform capped network charge applies to this throughout Germany. The government’s amortisation account therefore guarantees economic network operation even during market ramp-up. Along with a competitive price for the first hydrogen customers for using the infrastructure for phases one, two and beyond.

What challenges do you envisage during practical operation given the foreseeable liquidity of Hamburg’s initially small hydrogen market? How much of a problem might fluctuating gas volumes be?

Of course, we’ve investigated this issue: the hydrogen economy will fundamentally require network management with the involvement of storage operators, customers and suppliers. For Gasnetz Hamburg, this is another reason why connection to the core network is so important: the import options and electrolysis capacities make HH-WIN a dynamic element in the upstream network, as we’ll be both a supplier and a consumer. With gas, this combination has the advantage that there’s greater short-term line pack than in the electricity grid, for example – meaning that volatile changing loads and pressures are not a problem to a limited extent. The expanded buffering option in the core network makes us more flexible. Depending on how the supply and maritime imports of hydrogen into our network develop in future, Hamburg may also become a net supplier in the core network in future. The connection pipeline is designed with compressors and pressure regulators to handle load current reversal. The reliability and safety of the network operation are therefore not an issue.

How can you help suppliers and consumers find each other?

We have no influence on energy trading, but are involved in designing the hydrogen market, thanks to our work within associations. Politicians are primarily responsible for creating a good market design that facilitates economically attractive trading.