Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Uniper forge hydrogen ties

May 3, 2024, by Aida Čučuk

Danish investment company Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), through its Energy Transition Fund, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with German energy company Uniper to strengthen collaboration on bringing green hydrogen from CIP’s HØST PtX Esbjerg project to Germany.

Courtesy of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP)

Specifically, the partnership will drive collaboration on the production, transport and marketing of green hydrogen from the HØST PtX Esbjerg project to Germany.

It is expected that HØST will be connected to the German hydrogen backbone via a new hydrogen pipeline to be developed from Denmark to Germany by the Danish transmission system operator Energinet in cooperation with Gasunie Deutschland Transport Services. According to CIP, this will enable access to the consumption sites in Germany and help bring competitively priced green hydrogen to the German market.

In partnership, CIP and Uniper will develop a model to bring up to 140,000 tons of green hydrogen annually to customers in Germany, CIP revealed, adding that Uniper intends to include the green hydrogen from HØST into its green gas portfolio and supply the industry’s needs with varying flexibility profiles and with different contract lengths.

Karsten Plauborg, Partner at CIP, said: “This is an important step for CIP and the HØST PtX Esbjerg project. With the vast renewable energy potential from the North Sea as well as the planned hydrogen pipeline connecting Denmark to Germany, we are excited to take the next step in bringing the green hydrogen from the HØST project to German customers.”

Holger Kreetz, COO at Uniper, commented: “We see great potential in this collaboration. HØST fits our strategic target of achieving at least 1 GW installed electrolyser capacity by 2030 and our other electrolyser developments in Germany such as Green Wilhelmshaven. Uniper’s diversified hydrogen portfolio consists of various supply sources to guarantee competitive and secure supplies in line with customer needs.”

To note, CIP’s HØST PtX Esbjerg production facility is located in Southern Denmark, close to the port of Esbjerg, which provides access to major European ports such as Hamburg and Rotterdam. In 2023, HØST signed a commercial collaboration agreement (CCA) with Danish marine fuel supplier Monjasa on logistics services and the offtake of green ammonia for the maritime sector.

Regarding CIP’s most recent activities, it is worth mentioning that in 2024, the company signed an MoU with South Korea’s LOTTE Chemical Corporation to strengthen collaboration on clean ammonia projects. Furthermore, it entered into an option agreement with Naturgassparken Vest, a real estate company jointly owned by CCB Energy and Norwegian Øygarden municipality, to establish the production of hydrogen-based energy carriers.

As for Uniper, in April 2024, the company entered deals with compatriot companies SKW Piesteritz and Salzgitter. The agreement with SKW Piesteritz calls for the latter to supply Uniper with sustainably produced ammonia. As for the agreement with Salzgitter, Uniper could supply up to 20,000 tons of certified green hydrogen to Salzgitter every year, starting in 2028 at the earliest.