Hamburg Energy Grids Are Building an H₂ Connector

On the former Moorburg power plant site, Hamburger Energienetze GmbH has begun construction of the H₂ Connector, a technical interface between the import, export, production, and distribution of hydrogen. The so-called Hamburg Hydrogen Industry grid (HH-WIN) is intended to combine existing individual plant modules into a functioning overall system. The groundbreaking ceremony at the Moorburg site was officially celebrated at the end of August in the presence of Katharina Fegebank, Hamburg's Senator for the Environment, Climate, Energy, and Agriculture.

A gas pressure regulating station is planned as part of the HH-WIN in the Lower Saxon municipality of Rosengarten, where the Hyperlink grid, operated by Gasunie, arrives at an operating pressure of up to 70 bar. The station will reduce the pressure to as low as 25 bar, allowing hydrogen to be fed into the HH-WIN and distributed to the adjacent industrial clusters. In the event that larger quantities of hydrogen are imported via the Port of Hamburg in the future, the station can also increase the pressure from 25 to 70 bar. The plan is to process imported hydrogen and transport it across the region. Currently, around 20 of the planned 60 kilometers of pipeline are under construction, with another 20 kilometers already completed. The project, costing approximately €22.6 million, is being funded by the EU as an IPCEI (Individual Project for European Cooperation) and, based on calculations, has the potential to save around 1.4 million tons of CO₂ annually from 2032 onwards, assuming full utilization by the adjacent industries.

Michael Dammann, Technical Director of Hamburger Energienetze GmbH, explained at the groundbreaking ceremony: “For the hydrogen economy to succeed, consumers need choices. Our HH-WIN H₂-Connector facility allows us to feed energy from on-site electrolysis into the grid, as well as to obtain hydrogen from the grid and, in the future, from the port, and even export it. To make this possible, we are constructing a hydrogen injection plant and a gas pressure regulating station, along with their energy supply, here by 2027.”