Green hydrogen imports to Germany must not come at the expense of domestic production, the country’s hydrogen association has warned after five Danish export projects secured public support to supply the German market.
DWV “welcomed” the selection of Everfuel, European Energy, and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners’ projects under Germany’s €1.3bn ($1.5bn) Auction-as-a-Service round, calling it an “important step” to building a competitive European hydrogen market.
The three projects, representing 590MW of electrolysis capacity, will supply green hydrogen to Germany through the planned Danish Hydrogen Backbone pipeline from 2031.
MorGen Energy and Hy2Gen also won subsidies for their 300WMW and 100MW Danish projects, looking to export to Germany in the third EU-wide European Hydrogen Bank auction.
The subsidies are hoped to help anchor demand for the Danish pipeline corridor, which was delayed from an original start date of 2028 until the early 2030s.
While DWV acknowledged Germany will be “dependent on imports in the long-term,” it stressed the need to build up its own production capacities.
“The development of international import corridors must not come at the expense of domestic electrolysis,” it said. “Domestic electrolysers can reduce grid congestion, better integrate renewable energies, and increase the resilience of the energy system.”
Under the previous administration, Germany expected to import 75% of its 2030 green hydrogen demand.
Despite already lining itself up as a key European clean hydrogen user, the country faces high domestic production costs due to high industrial electricity prices and low renewable energy capacity.
Denmark, on the other hand, has abundant offshore wind capacity and low domestic electricity demand, offering a route for Danish producers to convert surplus into green hydrogen for competitive exports.
DWV said it was “essential” to provide more funding to develop German electrolysis capacity, suggesting that the country’s main import subsidy scheme, H2Global, should be allocated to domestic use.
“Import subsidies and domestic production must not be pitted against each other,” it said. “Germany needs both: cost-efficient European and international hydrogen supplies as well as strong domestic electrolysis capacity as the industrial and energy-related backbone of the ramp-up.”
Despite the call for more domestic support, Germany has been acknowledged as Western Europe’s biggest green hydrogen market.
Research by ICIS in January said Germany’s post-final investment decision (FID) capacity had almost reached 1GW by Q4 2025, with installed capacity reaching 84MW.
However, ICIS warned that the country’s current pipeline would not be sufficient to meet recently-approved green hydrogen mandates in transport between 2028 and 2033.
