Project partners GASCADE, Gasunie, RWE and Shell have signed a declaration of intent to further intensify their collaboration on the AquaDuctus project.

The AquaDuctus pipeline will transport green hydrogen from the North Sea directly to the continent. It is part of the AquaVentus initiative, which plans to install 10 GW of electrolysis capacity for green hydrogen production from offshore wind power between Heligoland, Germany, and the Dogger sand bank, 100 km off the east coast of England. In the dovetailed sub-projects, demand, generation, and transport of hydrogen are to be synchronised in order to enable a swift market ramp-up.

The pipeline is the vision for the first German offshore hydrogen pipeline. Once the construction of the generation plants is fully completed, AquaDuctus would transport up to 1 million tpy of green hydrogen from 2035 onwards, thus making a substantial contribution towards the decarbonisation of energy supply in Germany and Europe. The project is therefore a key milestone in the implementation of the German and European hydrogen strategies.

Compared to the transport of electricity generated offshore, the pipeline offers clear economic advantages. It will replace five High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission systems, which would otherwise have to be built. It is by far one of the most cost-effective options for transporting large volumes of energy over distances of more than 400 km.

The first step in the project is to carry out a detailed feasibility study. AquaDuctus has also participated in the IPCEI (Important Project of Common European Interest) process of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.