For Hamburger Energienetze GmbH, which is constructing HH-WIN in Hamburg’s port region, this phase will give financial certainty for further development following the launch in 2027, with a network length of around 60 kilometres by 2032.

Jens Kerstan, Senator for the Environment, Climate, Energy and Agriculture, said: “By including the Hamburg hydrogen pipelines in the core hydrogen network, the Federal Government is underlining the important supra-regional significance of HH-WIN: because we produce hydrogen in Hamburg, import it via terminals and use it locally in our industry, the network has an important bridging function for the entire hydrogen economy that is emerging nationwide.”

The core network is a key component in implementing the German government’s national hydrogen policy, with the goal of achieving a speedy market launch.

To facilitate the development of an effective hydrogen infrastructure across Germany, the revised Energy Industry Act (EnWG) requires that the core network connect hydrogen production and import facilities to the energy carrier’s customers.

The Federal Network Agency will first establish a consistent national grid fee. This will prevent the regulator from charging prohibitively large costs in the early stages of network construction, jeopardizing the adoption of hydrogen.

Capping grid fees will mean the difference between initially high investment costs and low grid fee profits.

However, network operators can fill this initial funding gap by simultaneously recognising expenses and financing investments through a compensation account, known as the amortisation account, allowing them to begin building and conversion immediately.

The initial income loss will be overcome by increased revenue at a later time when more hydrogen consumers connect to the network. This ‘fee shift’ means that subsequent users help to pay for the network’s development.

The legislatively mandated funding strategy for the HH-WIN project assures investment stability beyond the project’s commencement date in 2027.

The building phase will run until 2032, when HH-WIN, with its 60-kilometre pipeline, should have reached all of Hamburg’s major energy-intensive industrial sectors.

At the same time, the other key network operators will have built 9,700 kilometres of hydrogen pipes in Germany’s major consumption and production regions.

With HH-WIN, a major electrolysis plant, large-scale industry, and an import terminal, Hamburg will quickly become a vital hub for the northern hydrogen economy.

According to current plans, hydrogen generated and imported in Hamburg will be delivered as early as the end of 2027.

Recently, HPA and MPA signed a letter of intent to further their collaboration in digitization, decarbonisation, and cyber security.