Gas network operator Thyssengas has started work on converting a natural gas pipeline for hydrogen transportation between Vlieghuis in the Netherlands and Ochtrup in North Rhine-Westphalia. The pipeline is scheduled to go into operation in 2027. The first inspection pigging took place on May 15.
The German-Dutch hydrogen network is taking shape. On site, Sandra Cichon, First District Councillor of the district of Grafschaft Bentheim, Ansgar Duling, Mayor of the joint municipality of Emlichheim, Mayor Thomas Berling, Mayor of Nordhorn, and Martin Hofschröer, Managing Director of Stadtwerke Bad Bentheim, took the opportunity to gain an insight into the conversion work. The focus of the event in Hoogstede was the pigging of the approximately 12 km long pipeline section between Vlieghuis and Kalle.
During the process, a so-called pig is driven through the pipeline with the natural gas flow. The robot checks and documents the condition of the pipeline. This allows the steel pipes, weld seams and the integrity of the pipeline to be checked down to the last detail and the pipeline to be tested for hydrogen suitability. Thyssengas also uses the pigs regularly during operation to ensure the safety of the pipeline network.
Thyssengas CEO Thomas Gößmann explained that the conversion of the cross-border H2 pipeline creates "significant supply prospects for the H2 ramp-up in Germany". The resulting transport pipeline will open up access to the import ports of Amsterdam, Eemshaven and Rotterdam as well as the province of Zeeland and the storage facilities and planned hydrogen production plants there.
Pipelines are part of Get H2
Due to its international significance, the project is part of the EU program "Important Projects of Common European Interest" (IPCEI). Thyssengas had already acquired a 12-kilometer section of pipeline between Vlieghuis and Kalle from RWE Generation SE Erdgasleitung in January 2023 for the conversion.
Together with other H2 projects, the project will form the basis for the development of a cross-border H2 infrastructure, according to Thyssengas. It is part of the overall Get H2 project. The aim of the infrastructure initiative is to connect the entire hydrogen value chain from Lingen to the Ruhr region and from the Dutch border to Salzgitter between 2024 and 2027.
Get H2 is backed by around 50 companies, institutions and local authorities, who say they are committed to creating a competitive H2 market and making the necessary adjustments to the legal and regulatory framework. Thyssengas is a funding partner of the project.
