Danish renewables investor Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has today signed a memorandum of understanding with German energy firm Uniper to supply 140,000 tonnes a year of green hydrogen from its 1GW HØST PtX Esbjerg project.
The companies anticipate that from the end of 2028, the plant in Denmark will feed H2 into a cross-border pipeline to the German hydrogen network, which CIP told Hydrogen Insight would be the “main condition” for the MOU to progress to a binding offtake deal.
And last month, the EU designated two cross-border H2 pipeline projects between Germany and Denmark as “Projects of Common Interest”, making them eligible for accelerated permitting and funds from the bloc’s Connecting Europe Facility.
Uniper plans to integrate green hydrogen from HØST into its green gas portfolio and sell it onto industrial customers, noting in a press release that it will offer “varying flexibility profiles” as well as different contract lengths — potentially circumventing offtakers’ unwillingness to lock into long-term contracts for green hydrogen at current high prices.
“While CIP has a significant portfolio of power-to-gas projects, Uniper’s strong position with German energy customers is a key enabler in establishing this new market,” said Karsten Plauborg, a partner at the Danish investment firm.
A final investment decision on HØST, which would cost more than €2bn ($2.1bn), is due in 2025, while permitting is set to be completed in the third quarter of this year.
While the project had originally been envisaged as producing green ammonia for fertiliser or shipping, CIP confirmed to Hydrogen Insight that with the Uniper MOU, the development will now focus on supplying hydrogen directly via pipeline, although its permitting application still includes an ammonia production element.
CIP indicates that it plans to source power for the project from offshore wind, highlighting on HØST’s website that 10GW of wind farms are set to be built in the North Sea in the coming years. The investor also plans for waste heat from hydrogen production to be used for district heating of 15,000 households in the Esbjerg-Varde area.
Updated on 3 May to include further detail on the HØST project from CIP.
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