Proposals to build an offshore green hydrogen pipeline in the North Sea have taken a major step forward with an application to obtain the status of EU Project of Common Interest—a separate initiative to Important Project of Common European Interest programme—developers Fluxys and Gascade say.

The project, called Aquaductus, would collect hydrogen produced by multiple offshore windfarms, while also offering the potential to link up with other international hydrogen flows through the North Sea.

Hydrogen would be taken to the German coast via the offshore pipeline and fed into the country’s onshore network.

400km – Proposed length of pipeline

"The offshore pipeline, which will be over 400km long when completed, will become a linchpin of Germany's and Europe's future offshore hydrogen infrastructure," says Christoph von dem Bussche, managing director of Gascade.

Plans for the project envisage it becoming a key hydrogen corridor carrying up to 1mn t/yr into Germany. The pipeline would be operated on a regulated open-access basis, making it available to all future windfarms producing hydrogen.

Studies identify up to 100GW of offshore hydrogen production potential in the German and European North Sea and view an integrated European offshore pipeline network as the ideal transport solution, the developers say.

"We firmly believe that the Aquaductus offshore pipeline will be a key element of Europe's future energy supply picture and a major advance in the drive towards climate neutrality," says Pascal De Buck, managing director of Fluxys.

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Author: Stuart Penson