TransHyDE

To move Germany forward on the path to climate neutrality, it will need several hundred million tons of hydrogen annually. Germany will produce some of this itself - the much larger proportion will have to be imported from wind- and sun-rich regions. In both cases, functioning and efficient transport infrastructures are needed. This is because hydrogen is rarely used where it is produced.

Therefore, transport infrastructures for short, medium and long distances are urgently needed. In part, existing gas grid and gas storage infrastructures could be used for this purpose; in part, entirely new transport technologies are needed. In both cases, there is still a massive need for research. For example, suitable standards, safety regulations and international rules are still lacking. In addition, numerous transport technologies have so far only been tested on a small scale.

Objective

The lead project TransHyDE will therefore comprehensively further develop transport technologies - and do so in a technology-open manner along various possible development paths. More precisely, TransHyDE will test and scale up one transport technology each in four demonstration projects:

• Hydrogen transport in high-pressure containers.
• Hydrogen transport in existing gas pipelines.
• Transport of hydrogen bound in ammonia.
• Hydrogen transport using LOHC.

To ensure that all these technologies become part of the overall energy system as quickly as possible, the lead project wants to initiate its own roadmap process. In this way, the project wants to continuously analyze: Where do we stand, where do we want to go - and how exactly can we achieve this goal? It is already clear that new standards, new norms and new certifications are needed for hydrogen transport technologies to enter the market. The project is therefore devoting a separate work package to this topic. The same applies to material testing, sensor technology and safety. This will ensure that all solutions developed will be durable, efficient and safe.