German and Danish companies pen green hydrogen offtake deal

November 27, 2023, by Aida Čučuk

A number of companies from Germany and Denmark have signed a German-Danish green hydrogen offtake declaration, which was initiated by Dansk Industri (DI), Green Power Denmark and the German-Danish Chamber of Commerce.

According to Green Power Denmark, with the declaration, the companies on both sides of the border are sending a strong signal to the politicians that by the first half of 2024 at the latest, they should make an investment decision to bury hydrogen pipes.

The companies find the decision necessary if the politicians are to live up to the cooperation agreement between the two countries signed in spring 2023, which aims for green hydrogen to flow between the nations in 2028, Green Power Denmark said.

Furthermore, the industry called for a structured roadmap of increased EU and national funding to help close the price gap on green hydrogen in the “immature” market.

Troels Ranis, Director of DI Energi, commented: “Green hydrogen is and will be absolutely crucial in the green transformation of the major European energy-consuming companies. And a large part of it should ideally be sourced in Denmark. Therefore, the politicians should decide very soon how the hydrogen pipelines are to be financed, so that the necessary investment decision can be made in the first half of 2024, and the Danish hydrogen pipeline to Germany can come into operation in 2028.”

Kristian Jensen, CEO of Green Power Denmark, noted: “We can produce huge amounts of cheap green power from wind turbines in the North Sea, and we have the necessary technological knowledge to enable us to produce hydrogen on a large scale. If we take the chance, we can build a completely new industry in Denmark with associated jobs. But something only happens when the companies can see that the hydrogen pipeline is on its way, so they know they can get rid of the hydrogen they produce.”

The German government estimates in its hydrogen strategy that Germany will need to import between 45 and 90 TWh of hydrogen in 2030 and that hydrogen should preferably be produced from green electricity, Green Power Denmark said, noting that the Danish export potential in 2030 for Germany alone is expected to be 16 TWh (corresponding to approximately 4.5 GW of electrolysis capacity, of the 4-6 GW that has been politically decided to produce).

The EU has a target of producing 10 million tons of green hydrogen in 2030, and in the declaration, the companies called on the EU to set itself even bigger targets, noting that hydrogen pipes will be needed all over Europe to have a large and well-functioning European market for green hydrogen.