Two prominent power-to-gas proposals – Hybridge and Element Eins – have received a rejection from Germany’s Federal Network Agency. The network operators Amprion and TenneT had hoped for an easing of regulations as part of the national hydrogen strategy (see H2-international, August 2020). However, the companies have now suffered a setback in a tussle that has since begun over future market share and profitable business areas.
TenneT
Hydrogen islands in the North Sea
Connecting offshore wind farms to the public grid is still fraught with problems. The main challenge is how to transmit the large amounts of energy generated in the North and Baltic Sea to the coast, since the lines have not yet been adapted to the task.
Major Project in Emsland Region
The race to build the biggest multi-megawatt power-to-gas plant has begun: On February 11, in Berlin, TenneT and two transmission system operators, namely Amprion and Open Grid Europe, or OGE for short, announced their joint plans to construct a 100-megawatt electrolysis system. As part of Hybridge, they intend to put up a hydrogen production system and adapt an OGE pipeline near Lingen, in Germany’s Emsland region, to transport the gas. The project is expected to cost EUR 150 million.