The current status of the hydrogen core network: between planning milestones and market reality

The backbone: 9,040 kilometres for the hydrogen economy 

On 22 October 2024, the Federal Network Agency approved the hydrogen core network, which spans 9,040 kilometres and is due to come into operation by 2032, with a planned investment of around 18.9 billion euros. It connects future generation sites, import points, storage facilities and industrial consumption centres via a long-distance pipeline infrastructure and is designed for up to 101 GW of injection capacity and 87 GW of withdrawal capacity. Around 60 per cent of the core network’s pipelines are to consist of converted natural gas pipelines, with the remaining 40 per cent comprising new pipelines. The project is jointly funded by 18 network operators. 

The Energy Industry Act permits the commissioning of individual sections to be postponed until 2037, provided that the annual network development plan justifies this postponement. The fact that this option is already being exercised is evident from the first draft of the Gas and Hydrogen Network Development Plan dated March 2026: numerous projects are being extended, and the total length of the core hydrogen network is set to grow to 9,206 kilometres, with investments totalling 24.9 billion euros. 

The first sections are now operational 

Construction of a hydrogen pipeline approximately 55 kilometres long between Lingen and Bad Bentheim began as early as the second quarter of 2024, as the transmission system operator Nowega states in its project timetable. Following the completion of construction work in the first quarter of 2025, the network operator commissioned the pipeline at the end of March 2025 with an initial filling – it is thus regarded as the first section of the German hydrogen core network to be put into practical use. 

Progress is gradually becoming evident across several sections that have already been completed: the approximately 400-kilometre-long OPAL/JAGAL conversion pipeline between Lubmin and Bobbau/Bitterfeld-Wolfen came into operation in December 2025 and is described in German media reports as the world’s longest pipeline to date to be operated continuously with hydrogen. 

This was followed in April 2025 by the first core network pipeline in eastern Germany, connecting the Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park with the TotalEnergies refinery in Leuna. A 30-MW electrolyser has been coming on stream there in stages since the end of 2025. 

In addition, the approximately ten-kilometre-long new Heek–Epe pipeline, which connects to a planned hydrogen cavern storage facility, came into operation at the end of 2025. This was followed in August 2026 by the approximately 120-kilometre-long GET H2 Nukleus pipeline network between Lingen and Marl.  

Capacity booking: The market is picking up noticeably 

Since 19 March 2026, producers, large-scale consumers, suppliers and traders have been able to make binding bookings for entry and exit capacities on the core hydrogen network up to seven years in advance. This is based on a market information package published by the network operators on 5 March 2026, which sets out the cluster structure and booking process. 

By the deadline of 23 July 2026, market participants in the network clusters had reserved just under 6 GW of capacity subject to payment. This represents a doubling compared with the baseline figure and exceeded the network operators’ expectations. According to FNB Gas, the core network is now in the initial phase of commercial marketing. 

A critical assessment 

As dynamic as capacity booking is proving to be, the warning signs along the rest of the value chain are all the more evident. In a special report published at the end of October 2025, the Federal Audit Office stated that the German hydrogen strategy did not meet key economic viability criteria, despite the fact that around 4.3 billion euros in funding was made available in 2024 alone, and more than 3 billion euros in 2025. It called for a reality check and a Plan B, as sticking to the current course jeopardises climate targets, industrial competitiveness and federal finances in equal measure. 

Wolf-Peter Schill of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) describes the situation as sluggish across all sectors. Regulatory uncertainty, high investment and operating costs, and a low willingness among customers to pay are repeatedly cited as key obstacles. 

The legislature has responded to one of these obstacles: the Hydrogen Acceleration Act, which came into force in April 2026, classifies the production, storage, import and transport of hydrogen as being in the overriding public interest until 2045, shortens approval times and introduces fully electronic procedures. However, this does nothing to address the economic obstacles. 

Outlook: The Network Development Plan as the next strategic step 

Faster procedures thus answer the question of ‘how’, not ‘how much’. The latter is decided elsewhere. The Gas and Hydrogen Network Development Plan 2025, which was put out for consultation in March 2026, builds on the Hydrogen Core Network approved in 2024 and sets out additional measures up to 2037. Based on the current scenario framework, which is heavily oriented towards reported industrial demand, the plan envisages 7,007 kilometres of new hydrogen pipelines with an investment volume of around 20.1 billion euros – partly as a supplement to, and partly as a continuation of, the core network already approved. 

Despite unresolved issues regarding production, storage and off-take, the core network remains the key lever of the National Hydrogen Strategy: as capacity reservations increase, a robust database is emerging for the first time showing where actual demand is arising and where policy needs to be adjusted.