The Hamburg Energy Networks celebrated the start of construction for the H2 Connector on the site of the former coal power plant in Moorburg. According to the company, the facility forms the central infrastructure for the operation of the Hamburg Hydrogen Industry Network (HH-WIN). In the future, energy flows between a large electrolyzer, the national hydrogen core network, and the local distribution network are to converge there. Hamburg's Environment Senator Katharina Fegebank also participated in the launch event.
“The H2 Connector will be a green hub for hydrogen, the nationwide network and our factories and industry in the port,” explained Katharina Fegebank, Senator for the Environment and Second Mayor of the Hanseatic City of Hamburg, at the start of her welcoming address. She added that the fact this hydrogen project is being developed in a place where coal was still being burnt just a few years ago marks a milestone. Green hydrogen “is a key piece of the jigsaw for us on the path to climate neutrality – and in Moorburg, we are putting it all together.”
Commissioning is planned for autumn 2027. Initially, HH-WIN is expected to supply industrial areas around the Port of Hamburg with hydrogen via a network length of 40 kilometers. By 2031, the network is to expand to 60 kilometers. According to the Hamburg Energy Networks, slightly more than half of the first 40 kilometers of routes have been completed, with further sections under construction or in the tendering process. The distribution network is to supply the industry with an operating pressure of up to 25 bar.
Pressure adjustment between transmission and distribution network
The H2 Connector handles the pressure adjustment between the transmission network Hyperlink operated by Gasunie and the distribution network HH-WIN. In the transmission network, which reaches Hamburg in the municipality of Rosengarten in Lower Saxony, an operating pressure of up to 70 bar is planned. Hydrogen is transported to Moorburg via a high-pressure pipeline over 13 kilometers long. There, a gas pressure regulating station reduces the pressure to below 25 bar.
The pipeline is designed to transport hydrogen in both directions. For energy exports from the distribution network to the transmission network, a compressor station is planned to increase the pressure back up to 70 bar. This station is still in the planning phase. Additionally, a hydrogen feed-in facility is to integrate the electrolyzer hydrogen from the Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub (HGHH) project into the Hamburg network.
Transport capacity and costs
In the first expansion stage, the facilities in Moorburg are expected to export up to 200,000 standard cubic meters of hydrogen per hour to the transmission network or import up to 360,000 standard cubic meters to Hamburg. This transport capacity corresponds to the consumption of 4,500 fully loaded 40-ton hydrogen-powered trucks at full speed, according to the Hamburg Energy Networks.
The company estimates the construction costs for the H2 Connector at around 22.6 million euros – excluding the compressor station still in planning. Approximately 16.3 million euros of this is covered by the IPCEI funding (Important Projects of Common European Interest) for the overall HH-WIN project. According to the network operator, if the industry replaces 6.4 terawatt hours of fossil natural gas annually with climate-neutral hydrogen via HH-WIN, 1.4 million tons of CO2 could be saved annually from 2032 onwards.
Further voices on the project
Michael Dammann, Technical Managing Director of the Hamburg Energy Networks, emphasized the flexibility of the infrastructure: "Our facility park HH-WIN H2 Connector allows energy from electrolysis to be fed into the network on-site, but also to source hydrogen from the transmission network and in the future from the port, and even to export it." By 2027, the company is building a hydrogen feed-in facility, a gas pressure regulating station, and the associated energy supply. A compressor station will be added later.
Britta van Boven, Managing Director of Gasunie Deutschland Transport Services, pointed out Hamburg's role in the European hydrogen network: "Hamburg thus forms an important bridgehead in the nationwide and Europe-wide emerging hydrogen economy as a consumption and import center." According to van Boven, about 70 percent of the pipelines in the Hyperlink transmission project are based on the conversion of existing natural gas pipelines. This allows parts of the network to be operational at the start of HH-WIN.
Holger Matthiesen, Co-Managing Director of the Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub, highlighted the importance of network connectivity for the planned electrolyzer facility. It creates the prerequisite for green hydrogen from the facility "to be available where it is needed – in Hamburg and beyond."
