A milestone for the energy transition: On 22.10.2024, the Federal Network Agency approved the construction of the Germany-wide hydrogen core network. Europe’s largest hydrogen network will be created by 2032, making it an important pillar of the climate-neutral energy system of the future.
Key data of the approved hydrogen core network
The total length of the approved core network is 9,040 km. The core network consists mainly of converted natural gas pipelines (approx. 60%). The investment costs amount to € 18.9 billion. The feed-in and exit capacities amount to around 101 GW and 87 GW respectively. In addition to the TSO measures, infrastructure from ten DSO core network operators was also approved (468 km).
The core grid meets the targets set out in the EnWG for a Germany-wide, expandable, efficient, climate-friendly and rapidly realizable hydrogen grid by the target year 2032. In order to create more flexibility in the implementation of the projects, the EnWG also provides for the possibility of deferring individual approved core grid measures if certain measures only prove necessary at a later date up to 2037.
The core network puts Germany at the forefront of infrastructure development in Europe. It is the starting signal and the basis for the development of the hydrogen market. The TSOs are thus making an advance payment: the core network is the offer to the market, it comes for the market and continues to develop with it.
The TSOs have already started building the core network. The first pipelines have already been converted to hydrogen this year.
Outlook: What still needs to be done?
On 14 July 2025, the Federal Network Agency set a ramp-up fee of €25/kWh/h/a. The ramp-up fee enables the refinancing of the development of the hydrogen core network and is intended to balance the amortisation account by 2055.
Regulations also still need to be developed with regard to a market model for hydrogen, including the marketing of transport capacities. In addition, future market roles such as storage, particularly in the market ramp-up phase, have not yet been clarified.
For the market ramp-up to succeed overall, it is important that policymakers create reliable framework conditions for the hydrogen ramp-up on the generation and demand side. Another focus is on the further development of the core network in order to take additional requirements and locations into account as part of integrated network development planning for gas and hydrogen (stage 2). The transformation of the distribution grids is also important for this in order to develop an area-wide hydrogen grid.
