Salzgitter’s Mannesmann to supply ‘hydrogen-ready’ steel pipes to German LNG pipeline

German steel pipemaker Mannesmann Line Pipe GmbH, a subsidiary of steelmaking and technology group Salzgitter AG, has booked an order from German energy network operator EWE NETZ GmbH for pipes for a new liquefied natural gas pipeline that will help boost Germany’s energy security, Salzgitter said in a Dec. 21 release.

The order, involving delivery of around 16,000 mt of “H2ready” pipes, is set to contribute significantly to expansion of the LNG gas infrastructure in northwest Germany, Salzgitter said. The term “H2ready” means that green hydrogen can also be fed through the pipes at a later date, it added.

The new pipeline, to be commissioned at the end of 2023, will connect to European gas transmission operator OGE’s “WAL” connection pipeline running from Wilhelmshaven to Etzel, currently under construction. The natural gas is transported from the Wilhelmshaven LNG terminal to EWE’s Huntorf and Nüttermoor/Jemgum cavern storage facilities on the one hand, and on to industrial and household customers via the downstream gas networks on the other, the steelmaker said.

The new pipeline has a capacity of up to 6 Bcm of natural gas from the LNG landfall. Given sufficient LNG is delivered to Wilhelmshaven, this could supply around 4 million households in the Ems-Weser-Elbe region with LNG.

“The planned pipeline is a further building block in diversifying Germany’s gas supply and making it more crisis-proof…[contributing] to the development of an efficient infrastructure that will also benefit the emerging hydrogen economy, ” said Salzgitter CFO Burkhard Becker.

Mannesmann Line Pipe is supplying a total of around 4,100 pipes in the DN 600 size range in lengths of 18 and 12 meters. The pipes will be transported by rail from the Hamm plant to Sande and Leer and then further distributed on to the pipe storage yards along the pipeline. This not only serves to ensure logistics, but also saves CO2 during transport, Salzgitter said.

The planned pipeline is around 70 km long in total.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed North European hot-rolled coil steel stable on the day at Eur665/mt ($706.80/mt) ex-works Ruhr on Dec. 20, as the market slowed down ahead of the end-of-year holidays.

— Diana Kinch