The hydrogen core network, which is still in the planning stage, will be a massive infrastructure project, primarily in Germany, consisting of around 9,040 kilometres of pipelines. It has been designed to connect key production, import, storage, and consumption hubs, fostering a sustainable hydrogen economy.
Around 60 percent of the network will be repurposed natural gas lines, while 40 percent will be new construction. The aim is to accelerate the transition to climate-neutral industry by 2032.
The project will establish a foundational framework for transporting hydrogen. It will link central locations – including coastal terminals and industrial centres in southern Germany, enabling reliable, large-scale hydrogen delivery.
It is supported by a 3 billion euro state aid scheme approved by the European Commission.
Market interest is a clear signal of the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy in Germany. The operators of the hydrogen core network launched the joint reservation phase on 19th March.
“The fact that demand is already so high shortly after the start clearly shows how important the core network is for the market ramp-up in Germany” said Barbara Fischer, Managing Director of FNB Gas. “Together, we are laying the foundation for the development of supply chains and thus enabling long-term investment decisions in the H2 market.”
Since the launch, numerous reservation requests have been submitted, most of which have already received a positive response in the form of a reservation offer. Further requests are currently under review. The level of demand shows that companies along the hydrogen value chain are registering concrete needs at an early stage and are placing their trust in the development of a high-performance transport infrastructure.
As of now, a total of 32 requests have been submitted. In the clusters, entry and exit capacities of up to approximately 2.9 GW have been requested, as well as capacities of up to approximately 0.6 GW for cross-cluster transport (CCT). The earliest planned start of use is 2027.
The review of the requests is based on the capacities published by the network operators in the second market information package on March 5, 2026. In cases where the requested capacities exceed that published level, a structured process in-volving individual case-by-case review is applied. This procedure has proven effective: all requests reviewed so far have received a positive response.
