The launch of a hydrogen pipeline from Denmark to Germany has been postponed by several years, the Ministry of Climate and Energy in Copenhagen said on Tuesday.
Construction planned for 2028 has been postponed until 2031 after research by state-owned Energinet showed that extensive environmental and safety studies were still needed.
Danish Climate Minister Las Aagaard described the construction timeline as “far from ideal” in a statement, but said the Danish government is “still very positive about the project.”
Sometimes you have to accept reality, he told the Ritzau news agency.
Aagaard had agreed with German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck on a plan to build the pipeline in March 2023.
So-called ‘green’ hydrogen, which is produced using renewable energy from wind and sun, is expected to play a key role in the energy transition to more climate-friendly fuels.
It is expected that hydrogen will be used in production processes in industry that are difficult to convert to electricity.
Germany plans to produce a lot of ‘green’ hydrogen domestically, but will also need to import large quantities and plans to work with other countries, such as Norway, to do so.
The section from the German border to the Danish town of Esbjerg is now due to be completed in 2031 and the entire pipeline is due to be completed in 2033.
The German Economics Ministry said the delays would not affect the planned boost to Germany’s hydrogen market.
“We are in constant contact with the Danish side here and the Danish government also wants to implement the project as quickly as possible,” a ministry spokeswoman said.
She added that possible ways to speed up construction are being discussed on site and the aim is to keep delays as short as possible.
