Together with the French gas infrastructure operator NaTran and the distribution network operator badenovaNETZE, terranets bw is working on a cross-border transport network for hydrogen. By converting existing gas pipelines and adding new infrastructure, Baden-Württemberg will be connected to the Grand Est region in France from 2029. The cross-border link across the Rhine that will be created for this purpose gives the project its name: RHYn Interconnection – RHYn Interco for short.

The aim is to offer potential major customers in the Freiburg and Kehl regions the possibility of a pipeline-based hydrogen supply. A market consultation in the fall of 2023 reported significant interest in purchasing H2 from potential large-scale customers in the regions. The majority of the pipelines involved in the project will be converted from natural gas to hydrogen.

The special feature of RHYn Interco is that the first potential customers for the hydrogen already exist in the Freiburg area with Cerdia and the Freiburg University Hospital and in the Kehl area with Badische Stahlwerke and Koehler Kehl.

The project has two stages to achieve its goal. The first stage has been included in the German hydrogen core network.

Step 1 from 2029
For the connection to the French Grand Est region and the European Hydrogen Backbone, terranets bw is planning new hydrogen pipelines around 15 kilometers long, which will cross under the Rhine between Fessenheim on the French side and the Bad Krozingen area on the German side. NaTran will ensure the connection to French generation projects and to the European H2 backbone.

The new pipeline is to be connected to an existing terranets bw gas pipeline, which is to be converted for the transportation of hydrogen. badenovaNETZE’s area of responsibility begins at the transfer station in March-Buchheim. Starting from the transfer station, an existing 10 km long natural gas pipeline, which connects the stations with the industrial areas of Freiburg-Nord and Freiburg-Hochdorf, will be converted to hydrogen. The measures required for the conversion are currently being planned and will be completed by the end of 2029 when the pipeline goes into operation. The first potential customers, Freiburg University Hospital and Cerdia, are also located in this area.

Step 2 from 2035
In a further step, the hydrogen network can be expanded by converting an existing 60-kilometer natural gas pipeline operated by terranets bw from Freiburg-Nord to the Offenburg area. In addition, a new 15 km long pipeline is planned for the transportation of hydrogen in the direction of Kehl, starting from the transfer station near Weier. There, the two partner companies Badische Stahlwerke and Koehler Kehl would be connected to the newly built infrastructure by 2035.

An expansion of the network to supply Strasbourg via Kehl would also be conceivable.

By connecting to the European hydrogen backbone, RHYn Interco is providing a key building block for the creation of the first local H2 market in Baden-Württemberg.