PCI status for Flow – making hydrogen happen

European relevance of the hydrogen pipeline project confirmed. Opportunity for access to funding instruments created.   

On November 28, 2023, the European Commission published the final list of “Projects of Common Interest” (PCI) and confirmed the corresponding status for the eastern part of Flow – making hydrogen happen. The PCI list comprises a total of 166 projects, including 65 in the field of hydrogen and electrolysers.The initiators of the project, the transmission system operators GASCADE, ONTRAS and terranets bw, welcome the positive decision and see it as confirmation of their assessment that Flow – making hydrogen happen is of crucial importance for the rapid development of a European hydrogen infrastructure.

PCI projects must fulfill exactly this requirement and, after application, are subjected to a cost-benefit analysis by the European Commission. These are important infrastructure projects that are intended to contribute to the completion of the European internal energy market and the achievement of the European Union’s energy and climate policy goals. PCI status creates the possibility of access to public funding instruments for project implementation.

Flow – making hydrogen happen is already part of the draft of the German hydrogen core network presented in mid-November 2023. PCI status is a criterion for inclusion in the German hydrogen core network. As part of Flow – making hydron happen, in the Eastern part, around 480 kilometers of long-distance gas pipeline from Lubmin on the German Baltic Sea coast to the border of the Czech Republic are to be converted from natural gas to hydrogen transports – a first section already in 2025.