We are on the threshold of a new era in energy supply – a future with hydrogen. A secure supply requires strategic partnerships, new approaches to generation and a modern infrastructure. At EnBW, we are among the pioneers and drivers of the H₂ future, using our expertise and experience to help turn the energy future into reality.
Öhringen: up to 100 percent hydrogen in the gas grid
Hydrogen in the natural gas grid – is it possible? Yes.
With the “Hydrogen Island Öhringen” and “Netzlabor H2-100” projects, we tested this from November 2021 to April 2025. Initially, 30 percent hydrogen was injected into a local section of the natural gas grid. The proportion was then gradually increased. Even at 100 percent hydrogen, safe and reliable operation of the gas grid is possible.
Building the hydrogen economy is a monumental task. We are driving the transition at all levels – from generation and transportation to storage and distribution. We have also set ourselves ambitious targets for our own power plants and plan to switch operations to hydrogen by the mid-2030s.
Wind farms and solar parks repeatedly have to be shut down when too much electricity is generated at the same time. Electrolyzers convert green electricity and water into green hydrogen. This allows energy to be stored during generation peaks and transported to wherever it is needed.
Overall, the potential of renewable energies in Germany will not be sufficient to meet the emerging demand through domestic hydrogen production. Imports will therefore play a key role in meeting hydrogen demand – with an import share of 50–70% as per the national hydrogen strategy in 2030. To ensure security of supply, various countries of origin and import routes are being considered.
The hydrogen core network transports hydrogen over long distances to where it is needed. Our subsidiaries terranets bw and ONTRAS are driving its expansion. At the same time, a high-performance, demand-oriented H₂ infrastructure is also required at the distribution grid level. Our distribution system operators, such as Netze BW, are preparing this transformation and planning the infrastructure required for the energy source of the future.
Large-scale storage facilities in underground salt caverns are an important part of the hydrogen infrastructure. The demand for H2 storage in Germany will rise because it is a reliable way of covering fluctuating energy needs. We will therefore eventually need to create new storage capacity and repurpose existing storage facilities.
Hydrogen is highly versatile. In the future, for example, it is expected to heat blast furnaces and serve as a raw material for industry. Hydrogen will also play an important role in generating electricity and heating, especially when the sun is not shining and there is little wind. We are gearing up for the energy source of the future here with our fuel switch projects.
As an infrastructure provider, we have already launched numerous regional and local hydrogen projects and real-world laboratories – from offshore production to hydrogen-ready gas-fired power plants. This is how we are actively shaping the development of the national hydrogen market.
Hydrogen trading activities
To supply Germany with hydrogen, trade agreements are concluded with international partners for hydrogen deliveries, which are landed in Germany by ship.
Hydrogen production – HyTechHafen Rostock
The company Rostock EnergyPort Cooperation GmbH, newly established in July 2022 together with our partners RWE, RheinEnergie and Rostock Port, aims to drive the development and expansion of a sustainable, decarbonized production and distribution infrastructure for hydrogen. To this end, an electrolysis plant for the production of sustainably generated hydrogen is to be built at the seaport of Rostock. The hydrogen produced will then be fed into a supra-regional distribution network and also made available to local consumers.
- H₂ production capacity: 100 MW
Production of hydrogen – H2-Mare
Offshore wind turbines generate green electricity – so far, so good. In the future, however, offshore installations could also potentially produce decarbonized hydrogen and, in turn, other CO₂-free energy carriers. EnBW is participating in the H₂Mare research project, which is exploring the potential of hydrogen production in offshore wind farms.
Transmission grid – doing hydrogen
With the doing hydrogen hub in eastern Germany, we are bringing together projects from innovative producers, gas transmission system operators and large consumers. The project – which we are running together with our partners Enertrag, APEX, Vattenfall and Cemex – serves as a connecting element, enabling us to create extensive links between the economic regions of Central Germany and the Rostock region as well as the Berlin metropolitan area and Eisenhüttenstadt. Hydrogen projects in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Berlin, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt are set to be linked to form a high-performance hub.
- Network length: 616 km
Green Octopus Central Germany (storage)
A cavern storage facility with a working gas volume of 50 million cubic meters stabilizes the hydrogen infrastructure and ensures a balance between supply and demand. With around 305 kilometers of pipelines, Green Octopus Mitteldeutschland (GO!) will ensure the safe transport of hydrogen from 2027 onward.
- Storage volume: 50 million m³
Hydrogen generation – Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park
The Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park is a large-scale project for the intelligent generation of decarbonized hydrogen, as well as its storage, transport, marketing and use. Our subsidiaries VNG and ONTRAS, together with the consortium partners Terrawatt, Uniper and DVGW, are for the first time testing the entire value chain of decarbonized hydrogen on an industrial scale. A large-scale electrolysis plant with a capacity of 30 MW produces decarbonized hydrogen using renewable electricity from a nearby wind park.
Temporarily stored in a specially constructed salt cavern, the sustainably produced hydrogen can be fed into the hydrogen network of the chemical industry based in central Germany via a converted gas pipeline and, in the future, used for urban mobility solutions.
- H₂ generation capacity: 30 MW
Transmission grid – Green Octopus Central Germany (transport network)
The Central German chemical triangle requires sustainably produced hydrogen, as do the industries in Saxony-Anhalt and the steel region in Salzgitter, Lower Saxony. Green Octopus Mitteldeutschland (GO!) will serve as the future transport route and storage option for this hydrogen. GO! connects the regions and integrates the future hydrogen storage facility in Bad Lauchstädt.
- Grid length: 305 km
Transmission network - Flow
Several transmission system operators are planning a high-performance pipeline system for hydrogen extending from the Baltic Sea to Baden-Württemberg, thus opening up pipeline-based supply options for large quantities of hydrogen for industry. The first pipeline sections are set to be converted from natural gas to hydrogen as early as 2025, thus reducing carbon emissions in the long term.
- Network length: 1,100 km
- How the Flow Project Is Driving the Energy Transition
Gas transmission grid – NET and SEL
Commissioned in 2022, the approximately 28-kilometer-long Neckarenztal pipeline (NET) transports more than just natural gas. Thanks to special welding processes and the use of hydrogen-compatible steel, the pipeline operated by terranets bw is also hydrogen-ready.
With the 250-kilometer South German natural gas pipeline (SEL), the EnBW subsidiary is also planning another hydrogen-compatible transport route. It will be the first hydrogen pipeline in Baden-Württemberg with a connection to the European Hydrogen Backbone and is expected to supply EnBW’s gas-fired power plants with hydrogen throughout the 2030s.
RHYn Interco
The aim of this cross-border project involving the terranets bw subsidiary of EnBW, the distribution system operator badenovaNETZE and the French gas infrastructure operator GRTgaz is to connect southern Germany to the French hydrogen grid.
By 2029, the construction of a new connection to France and the conversion of existing gas pipelines will connect major customers near Freiburg. By converting a further section, the network could be extended to Offenburg by 2035.
NETZLabor H₂-100 Öhringen
Since November 2021, tests have been conducted here on blending hydrogen into the natural gas grid. The follow-up project aims to demonstrate that safe and reliable operation remains possible even with 100% hydrogen in the gas grid.
- Blending ratio: 100%
Hydrogen generation – H2ORIZON
The H₂ORIZON project is an impressive example of how sector coupling can work in practice. In a joint project between our subsidiary ZEAG and the German Aerospace Center, green hydrogen is produced using renewable electricity from the adjacent wind farm and then used at the DLR site in Lampoldshausen.
This successfully links the sectors of renewable energy, hydrogen and storage applications, space, heat generation and mobility.
Heilbronn combined heat and power plant
Heilbronn combined heat and power plant, one of the biggest hard coal power plants operated by EnBW, first went online in 1923 and is located in an industrial and commercial park by the Neckar on the outskirts of the city. Three hard coal-fired blocks at the site produce electricity and district heating in combined heat and power mode. For balancing purposes, a battery energy storage system with a capacity of five megawatt-hours was commissioned at the power plant in 2017.
- Energy sources: hard coal; natural gas from 2027; hydrogen from 2035
- Fuel switch site
- Plant output: 1,028 MW
- District heating output: 320 MW
Stuttgart-Münster combined heat and power plant
Stuttgart-Münster combined heat and power plant first went online in 1908. It generates reliable, efficient and eco-friendly energy for the mid-Neckar region. Two gas turbine plants, three hard coal-fired boilers and a waste incineration plant at the site produce electricity and district heating in combined heat and power mode. In addition, a large-scale heat pump generates district heating using the cooling water it discharges.
- Energy sources: residual waste, hard coal, fuel oil and natural gas; hydrogen from 2035
- Fuel switch site
- Plant output: 238 MW
- District heating output: 450 MW
Altbach/Deizisau combined heat and power plant
Altbach/Deizisau combined heat and power plant first went online in 1899. It generates reliable, efficient and eco-friendly energy for the mid-Neckar region. Three gas turbine plants and two hard coal-fired blocks at the site produce electricity and district heating in combined heat and power mode. Combined heat and power plant 1 has been part of the grid reserve since 2017 and guarantees grid stability. Combined heat and power plant 2 has been in operation since 1997.
- Energy sources: hard coal, fuel oil and natural gas; hydrogen from 2035
- Fuel switch site
- Plant output: 1,018 MW
- District heating output: 280 MW
Find out more about Altbach/Deizisau combined heat and power plant
Hydrogen generation – H₂-Wyhlen real-world laboratory
Together with our partner Energiedienst, one of the largest hydrogen production capacities in southern Germany is being developed here. At the Grenzach-Wyhlen site, green and thus decarbonized hydrogen is to be produced using renewable electricity from the nearby hydropower plant. The site is scheduled to go into operation in 2026.
As part of the “Real-world laboratories of the energy transition” funding program of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), the H₂-Wyhlen project received a positive funding decision. At the Wyhlen site, EnBW and Energiedienst already jointly operate a 1 MW alkaline power-to-gas plant, which was funded as part of a flagship project by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economic Affairs.
- H₂ generation capacity: 6 MW
Hydrogen buses for Düsseldorf
In the state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, fuel cell buses are set to make public transport more climate-friendly in the future. To this end, Stadtwerke Düsseldorf, whose largest shareholder is EnBW, is investing in hydrogen technology: an electrolyzer will produce sustainably generated hydrogen on-site. The electricity used for this purpose comes from the neighboring waste incineration plant.
Complete value chain: greenHyBB
Under the project name greenHyBB (= green hydrogen for Brandenburg), VNG, ONTRAS and EnBW aim to establish a complete value chain for sustainably produced hydrogen in the Lusatia region. To this end, EnBW is planning to build wind farms and solar parks. These will generate green electricity in the region and feed it into the public grid. An electrolyzer, also constructed regionally by the project partners, will draw the green electricity from the grid and produce hydrogen through electrolysis.
The decarbonized hydrogen produced in this way can be made available to companies based in Brandenburg by connecting the electrolysis plant to nearby H₂ pipelines. Surplus hydrogen can also be transported to other regions via the emerging European hydrogen network (European Hydrogen Backbone).
Stuttgart-Gaisburg combined heat and power plant
Stuttgart-Gaisburg combined heat and power plant first went online in 1950. It generates reliable, efficient and eco-friendly energy for Stuttgart’s district heating grid. Three gas engines at the site produce electricity and district heating in combined heat and power mode. With an additional heat storage facility boasting a capacity of 300 megawatt-hours, it plays an important role as a peak and reserve power plant for the Stuttgart / mid-Neckar district heating region.
- Energy source: natural gas
- Fuel switch site
- Plant output: 30 MW
- District heating output: 310 MW
Find out more about Stuttgart-Gaisburg combined heat and power plant
Source: EnBW, FNB Gas