
11 Jun 2020
Essen
OGE
Press release
OGE welcomes the adoption of the National Hydrogen Strategy
Gas transmission system operator OGE welcomes yesterday’s adoption of the National Hydrogen Strategy (Nationale Wasserstoffstrategie, NWS) by the German government.
Tangible steps needed during this legislative period
This is the first important step towards the development of the hydrogen economy in Germany and will open up opportunities for Germany to achieve technological leadership and reach its climate protection goals. The federal government’s decision to promote the use of hydrogen as an energy carrier is logical and correct.
OGE also supports the federal government’s view that Germany has well-developed natural gas infrastructure which will play an essential role in the establishment of a hydrogen economy going forward. After all, well-functioning infrastructure for hydrogen transportation and storage is the prerequisite for the future supply of hydrogen in the necessary quantity and quality to the industrial and mobility sectors in particular, but also the heating market. It is right to use the existing gas infrastructure for this purpose and thus to shape the energy supply and infrastructure in line with sustainable climate and economic policies both today and in the energy mix of the future.
The existing German infrastructure is an ideal basis for implementation of the NWS. Various studies and investigations have highlighted the potential of hydrogen as well as the economic advantage of a future-oriented, intelligent energy system based on renewable power and hydrogen. Now, relevant actors like OGE are ready to take the next steps and engage in specific projects. To ensure that all this can take place promptly, tangible steps towards implementation must now follow. For gas infrastructure this means among other things that amendments to legal and regulatory frameworks – for example the Energy Industry Act and the Gas Network Access Ordinance – need to be adopted during this legislative period.

Jörg Bergmann, CEO of OGE
“The existing regulatory framework for natural gas now needs to be further developed for hydrogen. Introducing the necessary changes promptly will enable us to seize the opportunity to make transportation of hydrogen a viable option for the German economy as early as the middle of this decade,” said OGE’s CEO Jörg Bergmann. “This infrastructure, which will largely make use of the existing gas transmission system, will allow us to transport the high volumes of hydrogen likely to be required in a safe and economically efficient way and make us the backbone of a competitive hydrogen market in Germany and Europe. One thing, after all, is certain: Without widespread use of hydrogen alongside renewable energy, we will be unable to reach our climate targets for 2030 and 2050,” Bergmann continued.