(Karlsruhe) – The establishment of a network infrastructure for hydrogen as part of the “Get H2” project is on the safe side in terms of antitrust law: The Federal Cartel Office “currently has no concerns” about the collaboration of several natural gas network operators who jointly set up and operate a hydrogen network, the authority explained.
Pipelines from Lingen to the Ruhr area
As part of the project, the gas network operators Nowega GmbH, Open Grid Europe GmbH and Thyssengas GmbH want to gradually connect pipelines from Lingen to the Ruhr area and from the Dutch border to Salzgitter to transport hydrogen. As reported, the planned network consists of unneeded natural gas pipelines that will be converted to hydrogen as well as new pipelines and connects green hydrogen producers with industrial customers in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. The cooperation agreement was signed in March 2020.
Draft of a Germany-wide hydrogen infrastructure: By 2030, a 5.100 kilometer long network is to be gradually created that connects key locations of refineries, steelworks and the chemical industry as large consumers of hydrogen. The network is also the basis for a comprehensive supply of hydrogen filling stations. The sketch is part of the gas network development plan 2022-2032. © Association of Transmission System Operators (FNB Gas eV)
The project is supported by more than 50 industrial partners. The initial plan is to build an electrolysis capacity of 300 megawatts. Cavern storage facilities will be connected by 2026, followed by connections to other large-scale projects.
“The beginning market ramp-up for hydrogen is currently accompanied by a large number of cooperation projects,” says Andreas Mundt, President of the Federal Cartel Office. The conversion of existing and no longer needed gas pipelines, such as in the Get H2 project, undoubtedly plays a major role in this.”
When collaborating between competitors, the “guardrails of antitrust law” must be observed. Through cooperation, competition may only be restricted to the extent and for as long as “necessary for the rapid development of the hydrogen infrastructure”. The competitive requirements included “in particular, non-discriminatory network access for producers and sales.” Other operators of hydrogen infrastructure should not be excluded.
The corporate model follows this. It stipulates that producers and consumers can feed in or purchase hydrogen at any point in the network. The access model chosen by those involved is “already established as an efficient usage and billing system in the gas sector,” according to the Cartel Office. This ensures non-discriminatory access to the network and avoids possible damage to competition in the area of hydrogen production and distribution. When assessing the project, there was no indication that “this infrastructure competition is currently being restricted in an inadmissible way”.
However, this assessment is not a license for all time. The market conditions in the hydrogen sector developed “dynamically and cannot currently be predicted with any certainty”. Therefore, “a reassessment of individual aspects” of the cooperation may be necessary in the future. According to the lawyers, we will “keep a close eye on the competitive conditions on the markets”.
An information paper from the consortium “With hydrogen, we are working together to advance the energy transition Get H2 – initiative for the development of a nationwide H2 infrastructure” is available to download free of charge as a PDF.
Class schedule
Part of “Get H2“. © BP Germany
