Germany has now opened a support tender for the import of green hydrogen in pipes from Denmark. The pool amounts to up to 10 billion DKK over ten years and is included as a German national support window under the EU's Hydrogen Bank. This means that Danish producers can bid on deliveries to German industrial customers with support behind them.
The CEO of Green Power Denmark, Kristian Jensen, calls the German initiative a major boost to kickstart a Danish hydrogen industry and the pipeline connections needed to bring the hydrogen south. According to the organisation, the tender is precisely the type of long-term demand that can make it easier for Danish projects to make investment decisions.
The support is intended for green hydrogen produced from wind and solar energy and delivered to German companies that currently use black and grey hydrogen from fossil fuels. The scheme is thus intended to push German industry in a greener direction and create a more secure market for production in Denmark.
Hydrogen pipes are the prerequisite
The export is closely linked to plans for a hydrogen pipeline from Esbjerg to the German border. Hydrogen is expensive to transport by truck in large quantities because it takes up a lot of space relative to its energy content. Therefore, pipeline transport is crucial if Denmark is to sell hydrogen on an industrial scale to Germany. With the German support, the pipeline project gains a new economic argument because the demand becomes more concrete.
While Germany is now trying to kickstart the market with support, the situation on Lolland illustrates how fragile the PtX track can be. European Energy's planned PtX facility at Stensø south of Nakskov Harbour was built around three large solar parks as a local power base. After Lolland Municipality's rejection of the parks at Tryghuse, Torpevej, and Holeby, the power foundation is gone, and thus there is uncertainty about the PtX project.
