Stahlwerk Thüringen and pipeline network operator Ferngas Netzgesellschaft have announced plans to connect the mill to the regional hydrogen pipeline grid, probably as of 2027. For this purpose, both partners signed a memorandum of understanding, Kallanish hears from the EAF-based sections maker in Unterwellenborn in the German state of Thuringia.
Together with other German transmission system operators, Ferngas last month published a current planning status for a hydrogen core network, laying the basis for what it calls the “hydrogen highways in Germany”. The company is already working with its customers on how the connections to these “highways” can be realised. Regions and customers not directly adjacent to this core network are also taken into consideration, Ferngas emphasises.
Ferngas, based in Schwaig near Nuremberg and Erfurt, plans to create the necessary infrastructure to transport hydrogen to the steel plant. One of the plans is to convert an existing natural gas pipeline of around 70 kilometres from the Erfurt area to Unterwellenborn. In order to be able to carry out the conversion to hydrogen, Ferngas needs permits to be obtained, a feasibility study, and a regulatory framework provided by the government to operate hydrogen pipelines.
Christian Koehl Germany
