Gasunie and Energinet sign cooperation agreement on connecting national hydrogen networks between Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany
Cross-border hydrogen infrastructure crucial for sustainable northwest European industry
Diversification of hydrogen supply contributes to security of supply and affordable energy
Energy infrastructure company Gasunie and Danish TSO Energinet signed a memorandum of understanding under the watchful eye of King Willem-Alexander and Danish King Frederik X to connect national hydrogen networks between Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. On behalf of Gasunie, Executive Board member Hans Coenen put his signature. This agreement runs until the end of next year and is, among other things, the prelude to connecting the Danish hydrogen network at Ellund to Hyperlink, the German part of Gasunie's hydrogen network. This connection will contribute to the cross-border hydrogen chain between Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands, allowing the Netherlands and Denmark to further develop as a hydrogen energy hub thanks to production, import, storage and transport capabilities.
Hans Coenen, Executive Board Gasunie: ‘Hydrogen plays a crucial role in energy transition, for example in industry. This requires large volumes of hydrogen in northwest Europe. By connecting our joint cross-border infrastructure for production, import, storage and transport, we contribute to a reliable supply of hydrogen at competitive prices. This is needed and can form the basis of a future European hydrogen market. I look forward to continuing our decades-long cooperation with Energinet for the benefit of the hydrogen market in North-West Europe.'
Gasunie is developing hydrogen infrastructure in the Netherlands and northern Germany over the next years. The construction of the national hydrogen network in the Netherlands started in 2023. In Germany, the Gasunie infrastructure under the name Hyperlink is part of the national hydrogen Kernnetz. Through Hyperlink, a hydrogen network can be created from the Danish-German border to the Dutch-German border, enabling hydrogen to also be transported from Denmark to north-western Europe through Gasunie's infrastructure.
The signing took place during King Willem-Alexander's visit to Denmark and Norway. The visit is all about hydrogen and the energy system of the future and expanding cooperation between the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway on hydrogen and hydrogen infrastructure. Like the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway are becoming a key link in supplying hydrogen to Northwest Europe. Together, the countries are planning to build capacity for production and import, infrastructure and additional knowledge of sustainable hydrogen. Cross-border infrastructure development is essential for this. In order to jointly build sustainable hydrogen chains and thus boost the hydrogen market within Europe, knowledge exchange, research, technological innovation, import and export connections and the corresponding infrastructure are needed.
Blue hydrogen
In Norway, cooperation between the Netherlands and Norway is central to further developing the blue hydrogen market. This is a form of hydrogen where the CO2 is captured and stored. In this context, Gasunie is working closely with Norway's Equinor to reduce CO2 emissions at major industrial clusters in northwestern Europe using blue hydrogen. In this process, the CO2 released is safely stored underground.
