Bookings for the planned cross-border hydrogen pipeline between Denmark and Germany have exceeded the minimum level required for the project to proceed to next phase, state-owned transmission system operator Energinet said today.
Energinet has signed contracts covering 0.557GW of transport capacity for 2031-40, surpassing the 0.5GW threshold set by the Danish government. The requirement was met a month ahead of the 1 December deadline.
Earlier this week, bookings had reached around 99pc of the required capacity.
The bookings follow a political agreement that revised the commercial framework for the first phase of the Danish Hydrogen Backbone. Under the revised model, hydrogen producers can reserve capacity without making binding commitments until the end of 2027, while the state assumes a greater share of the project's financial risk and increases support for the infrastructure.
"The uncertainty surrounding the booking requirement has now effectively been resolved," Energinet's mega-projects area manager Michael Linnemann Pedersen said.
But the milestone does not yet guarantee construction. The bookings are non-binding and can be withdrawn until 31 December 2027.
The next key milestone will come at the end of 2027, when shippers must provide booking guarantees. The project can proceed if binding commitments cover at least 100MW of capacity.
Energinet said German market participants have booked an equivalent amount of capacity, indicating demand for hydrogen imports from Denmark.
Energinet continues to target commissioning of the hydrogen infrastructure by the end of 2030, although it said "the schedule is tight", the project remains at an early stage and there are "many significant project activities ahead".
