The government of Denmark has introduced new initiatives to support the country’s emerging hydrogen market with billion-scale (DKK) funding and committed to establishing a Danish-German hydrogen pipeline by 2030.
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The government announced the new initiatives for hydrogen as well as offshore wind markets on January 31, 2025, citing global challenges and the country’s need to “run entirely on green electricity”.
Like offshore wind, green hydrogen can play a significant role in Europe's green transition and security of supply.
This is especially true in Germany, where industry is facing a massive transition away from fossil fuels.
In addition, Danish hydrogen exports to Germany can both contribute to creating a more solid basis for selling green electricity from Danish offshore wind and to creating growth and green jobs in Denmark in the areas where the most renewable energy has been installed.
The government will allocate a billion to provide a solid boost to the development of the Danish hydrogen market.
The pace of establishing hydrogen infrastructure in Denmark is key, and the government will go to great lengths to make it likely that the first phase of the hydrogen infrastructure from Esbjerg to the border with Germany will be operational as early as 2030.
"Denmark can and must play a role in getting Europe's production of green hydrogen started. It is also a green business opportunity for Denmark," says the Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities Lars Aagaard.
"That is why we are increasing the financing to realize the possibility of exporting hydrogen to Germany in 2030 with the measures that will realize the first stage of the hydrogen pipeline, so that we can get the snowball rolling. This is the starting point, not the end point."
The specific terms for the expansion await discussion with the contracting parties at the beginning of February. However, there are plans to reduce the booking requirement so that the section in the so-called seven-figure can be fulfilled based on the capacity of a single project.
A full Jutland hydrogen backbone includes, in addition to Syvtallet, sections further north and a section east to Fredericia.
However, the focus on Syvtallet does not mean that the government has abandoned the ambition that a full Jutland hydrogen backbone can be established. The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities is now setting up a task force that will look at the next separate phases as soon as possible.
Finally, the government has informed the parties to the agreement that the necessary framework for launching the next phase of Energiø Bornholm has not been put in place in time.
It remains a high priority for the government to bring the Danish offshore areas into play for the benefit of a greener and safer Europe, and as soon as a new German government is in place, Denmark is ready for a dialogue on how Danish offshore wind can best contribute to the new German government's demand for green electricity from Danish offshore wind.
Denmark is open to exploring different paths for the project and the area in the current market, where costs are rising. ■