Hydrogen infrastructure ownership defined in Denmark

Political agreement has been reached on the transmission and distribution of hydrogen in Denmark, opening the way for development of the country’s hydrogen economy.

Under the agreement, the Danish gas transmission system operator Energinet is named as the company responsible for the system and for delivering the ‘backbone’ with offshore and cross-border connections and connections to storage, while the distribution operator Evida will connect the domestic producers and consumers and the connections with the interconnected system.

With the agreement reached, the two operators now intend to proceed with planning tasks for a pipe-bound infrastructure and discussions with the relevant authorities.

Energinet’s CEO, Thomas Egebo, welcomed the agreement, saying that green hydrogen made from renewable energy can play a crucial role in the Danish and European energy systems within a few years.

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“We have already completed the preliminary studies of what an overall Danish hydrogen system might look like and be built. With today’s agreement, we will be able to take the next big steps so that we can unleash the potential for renewable energy in Denmark and a new, Danish position of strength within power-to-x.”

Kim Søgård Bering Kristensen, CEO of Evida, similarly welcomed the agreement, commenting that it marks the beginning of the transformation of Evida from a gas distribution company to a major commercially driven community actor whose future is also based on establishing, operating and developing a nationwide hydrogen infrastructure.

“This initiative is an important first step on the way to giving the Danish power-to-x industry a boost in all parts of the country where the market demands it. We look forward to developing the infrastructure in a continued close dialogue with market players to support their business ambitions in the hydrogen economy of the future.”

Hydrogen studies

As part of the preparatory work towards the division of roles and responsibilities, the two operators have been developing a number of initiatives.

Among these, Evida has initiated feasibility studies on distribution in two sections in Jutland and also initiated the Ready4H2 project, a major European initiative to investigate how distribution networks can strengthen the overall value chain for future transport of hydrogen.

For its part Energinet has partnered with the German gas TSO Gasunie to investigate how a hydrogen grid can be developed in Jutland and connected to the European backbone and whether one of the Danish-German border gas interconnections can be converted to a hydrogen connection.

In addition, Gas Storage Denmark, part of the Energinet group, is investigating if its gas caverns can be converted for underground hydrogen storage.

Evida and Energinet both report that their market dialogue confirms the demand for a national hydrogen infrastructure, with the realisation of several projects dependent on access to piped hydrogen.

A green hydrogen based cross-border grid also is expected to support the massive expansion of offshore wind by North Sea countries envisaged to enable Europe’s green transition.