(Berlin) - The Association of Transmission System Operators Gas eV (FNB Gas) carried out a market survey “Hydrogen Generation and Demand (WEB)” from January to April 2021. There were 500 project notifications, including 488 hydrogen projects with a demand of 231 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2032 and 427 TWh for 2040 and 598 TWh for 2050. “The market survey has shown a significant increase in the production and demand of hydrogen in Germany to the year 2032 and beyond,” said FNB Gas Managing Director Inga Posch.
The need is greater than the federal government expected
The reported electrolysis output of around 29 gigawatt hours (GWel) in 2032 is noteworthy. This is significantly more than expected in the National Hydrogen Strategy (5 GWel by 2030), and is therefore also well above the network development plan (NEP) for electricity up to 2035 to 8,5 GWel. 
An electrolysis output of around 2040 GWel was forecast for 48 and around 2050 GWel for 56. This information about the planned production and future demand for hydrogen and other green gases in Germany is the basis for determining a potential hydrogen network and is therefore incorporated into the hydrogen modeling of the “NEP Gas 2022-2032”.
The association explained which of the submitted hydrogen projects would actually be taken into account in the end will be decided by October 1, 2021. By then, the project developers must have concluded an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with their network operator “in order to prove the actual intention to implement the project”.
To evaluate the market survey, FNB Gas divided the project reports into six categories.
- Projects relevant to the transmission network
- Storage projects
- Projects in the distribution networks with relevance for the transmission network
- Reports of projects from abroad
- Projects in the distribution networks that are not relevant to the transmission network
- other reports
For the categories with the most reported projects (category 1 with 287 reports and category 3 with 183 reports), the TSOs have graphically displayed the reported entry and exit quantities for hydrogen in maps (see link at the end of this article).
The hydrogen projects with connection to the long-distance pipeline network are spread across Germany. “We need a supra-regional, pipeline-based transport infrastructure for hydrogen as soon as possible in order to connect hydrogen sources with the corresponding hydrogen sinks,” says the association.
In addition, many distribution network operators have reported a need. This makes it clear, says Inga Posch, “that we need to develop entire regions with an efficient hydrogen infrastructure at an early stage and on a large scale in order to ensure the supply of the large number of customers via the distribution networks.” The most economical option is to do this primarily by converting existing lines to develop hydrogen from the natural gas network.
deep link
https://news.cision.com/de/communication-works/r/fernleitungsnetzbetreiber–fnb–veroffentlichen-wasserstoffkarten–hier-soll-in-zukunft-wasserstoff-,c3418683
tickets
https://mb.cision.com/Public/18062/3418683/b927644e1c5b705b.pdf
Photos
Welding work on long-distance pipelines of the TNB member Bayernets / © Bayernets GmbH
