Green hydrogen: towards the construction of a Morocco-Germany gas pipeline?
The managing director of Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Group, Miguel López, has called for the construction of new hydrogen pipelines from Morocco and southern Europe, pointing out that Germany needs pipelines from countries such as Morocco, Spain and Portugal, he told the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) newspaper on Tuesday.
“We need pipelines from Western and Southern Europe,” he added. “Otherwise, it will be difficult to cover Germany’s enormous hydrogen needs”. The executive pointed out that setting up green steel production in Duisburg would also require a supply of hydrogen.
The company needs a connection to the central hydrogen network that Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) is planning to set up. “The hydrogen requirements of our new DRI plant are enormous,” López told the newspaper, -DRI stands for “Direct Reduced Iron”-. In the plant, coal and coke are replaced by natural gas, then hydrogen, to extract oxygen from iron ore.
The resulting sponge iron is then melted down in a subsequent stage. In Duisburg, the plant is to replace a conventional blast furnace. López pointed out that the first green steel plant already under construction in Duisburg could also run on natural gas. However, in the event of excessive use of natural gas instead of hydrogen, Thyssenkrupp Steel would no longer be entitled to the full amount of public aid, but only to a portion of the approximately two billion euros.
“Quotas have been set aside for the use of green hydrogen, and these are linked to parts of the public subsidy. One of our aims is to stimulate the hydrogen economy in Germany”. López continued: “Thyssenkrupp is also looking for energy partners all over the world. Three regions in particular are being targeted: the Iberian Peninsula, the Arabian Peninsula and the southern United States. In these three regions, we are exploring partnership opportunities,” said López.
According to a report by the World Economic Forum, Morocco is one of the top 6 high-potential countries in the MENA region. Entitled “Low-carbon Hydrogen Roadmap for the Middle East and North Africa”, the report assessed the MENA region’s hydrogen readiness, identifying six “high-potential” countries for the development of low-carbon energies. In addition to Morocco, the report cites Egypt, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
