TotalEnergies Reserves Significant Capacities in OTRAS H2 Starter Network

Reservation Agreement for Transport Capacities

In late May, TotalEnergies Raffinerie Mitteldeutschland GmbH (TotalEnergies) and ONTRAS Gastransport GmbH (ONTRAS) signed an agreement to reserve transport capacities in Germany’s nationwide hydrogen core network.

Up to 500 MWh/h at the Leuna Grid Connection Point

Under the agreement, TotalEnergies secures offtake capacities from the ONTRAS H2 starter network, which forms part of Germany’s nationwide hydrogen core network. From 2030, up to approximately 500 MWh/h of hydrogen is to be fed out at the grid connection point of the refinery in Leuna. The hydrogen is set to come, among other sources, from an electrolysis project in Lingen (Emsland) and from the Energiepark Bad Lauchstädt. There, ONTRAS already converted 25 kilometres of former natural gas pipeline to hydrogen transport in April 2025.

Plannable Demand as a Driver of Network Expansion

“The capacity reservation makes it clear: industrial demand for hydrogen is real and plannable. This is exactly the kind of commitment we need to build out the nationwide hydrogen core network swiftly and economically. The agreement shows how market players are working together during the ramp-up phase to jointly create the conditions for a functioning hydrogen economy,” said Ralph Bahke, Managing Director for Control and Development at ONTRAS.