VERBUND hydrogen commitment crosses borders
In the medium to long term, the focus will be on developing diversified import routes to meet the rapidly increasing demand for hydrogen, as local hydrogen production will only be able to meet part of future demand. Due to better conditions in terms of land, wind and sun, renewable electricity and thus green hydrogen can be produced in neighbouring regions in significantly larger quantities and at lower costs than in Austria. The aim is to secure the long-term supply of green hydrogen under competitive conditions and thus strengthen the business location.
Rising demand requires rapid action
The focus of import activities is on those regions that have favourable conditions for generating renewable electricity and producing green hydrogen, as well as an existing or future infrastructure connection to our core markets. Against this backdrop, VERBUND identified specific import corridors across various neighbouring regions, which are being continuously developed.
Importing hydrogen together with alliances as a long-term strategy
VERBUND initiated the hydrogen alliances in Austria and Bavaria. The alliances include players from along the entire value chain:
energy companies, infrastructure operators and hydrogen customers, who together represent a significant share of demand in the respective country or state/province. The goal of the import alliances is to enable hydrogen imports by 2030, so that the significantly rising demand in Austria and Bavaria can be covered reliably and competitively in the long term. The work therefore focuses on the structured and orchestrated start-up of the hydrogen import industry and solving what is know as the “chicken and egg problem”, which is the central challenge in building up the hydrogen industry.
Hydrogen Import Alliance Austria
The Hydrogen Import Alliance Austria (HIAA) is an association of eight leading Austrian companies with the aim of enabling hydrogen imports via pipelines to Austria by 2030 and thus being able to cover the significantly increasing demand for green hydrogen in the long term. The HIAA analyses the most promising export countries and transport routes to Austria and is working on the development of specific import corridors to ensure a secure and diversified supply. Initiated by VERBUND in 2022, the HIAA and its member companies have expertise along the entire value chain, from production in source countries to import via international and national transport routes to utilisation in the domestic economy. The companies are (in alphabetical order): AMAG Austria Metall AG, Gas Connect Austria, LAT Nitrogen Austria GmbH, OMV, RHI Magnesita, VERBUND Green Hydrogen GmbH, voestalpine AG and Wiener Stadtwerke.
Hydrogen Import Alliance Bavaria
The objective of the Hydrogen Import Alliance Bavaria (Hydrogen Import Bündnis Bayern- HIBB) is to advance the development of hydrogen imports to Bavaria by 2030 and thus to ensure the provision of large quantities of green hydrogen to supply local industry. The partners bayernets GmbH, BAYERNOIL Raffineriegesellschaft mbH, Gas Connect Austria GmbH, Wacker Chemie AG, Westlake Vinnolit GmbH & Co. KG and Verbund AG are developing a timetable to establish the value chain. For Bavaria’s immediate hydrogen supply, it is enormously important to build up regional hydrogen production. At the same time, the objective must be to supply highly industrialised regions that do not have sufficient renewable energy for hydrogen production due to their geographical circumstances and to do so via a European hydrogen network. Transporting hydrogen along pipelines represents the most cost-effective and scalable way to import it to Bavaria. Existing natural gas pipelines can be converted efficiently and cost-effectively into hydrogen pipelines for the transport of hydrogen.
