Eastern countries want to develop hydrogen network together

The eastern German federal states want to jointly develop a distribution network that gives municipalities, industry and commerce access to hydrogen. The Ministry of the Environment in Thuringia announced that a corresponding study will provide the basis for this. The Free State is currently chairing the Initiative for Hydrogen in Eastern Germany (IWO), which was jointly founded by the eastern states.

The study is intended to identify production potential in the eastern German states, but also to show how the region can best benefit from the planned supra-regional hydrogen core network, which is to be created by 2032. In October 2024, the Federal Network Agency approved such a nationwide network as the basis for supra-regional hydrogen transportation.

Better conditions for eastern German hydrogen players

In Erfurt, the Austrian company Andritz AG manufactures electrolysers for the production of green hydrogen - for example for a 100-megawatt hydrogen plant of Salzgitter AG for low-CO2 steel production. Thuringia's Energy Minister Tilo Kummer believes that eastern Germany as a whole has great potential when it comes to hydrogen. "However, we need the right political framework conditions to move forward here," said the BSW politician. For example, the grid connection of electrolysers must be simplified in order to improve planning and investment security for companies.

The IWO member states want to intensify their lobbying efforts to achieve this: A series of congresses on the topic of hydrogen with a focus on eastern Germany is to be initiated in Leipzig next year. An event is also planned in Brussels at the beginning of next year.

The IWO was founded in March 2024 by the six eastern German states. After one year under the leadership of Thuringia, the chairmanship will rotate to Berlin from December.