Quick profile
With a pipeline network of approx. 12,000 km, OGE, headquartered in Essen, ranks among the large long-distance pipeline network operators in Germany. Our almost 1,450 employees ensure the secure, ecologically sound and customer-oriented transport of gas nationwide. We actively support the European gas market, and create the prerequisites for cross-border transport and trade. In that respect, our self-perception goes beyond the regulatory conditions to which we, as a network operator, are subject. We see ourselves as a customer and service-oriented service provider, and actively support the transition in the energy sector. We do this, for example, by helping to improve infrastructure and minimise risks. Or by constantly attempting to identify opportunities and providing innovative solutions. For large, complex projects, as well as for small detail-level solutions.
Activities in the real-world laboratory
In this project, OGE researches how hydrogen can be integrated into the existing gas infrastructure in the long term. For that purpose, a complete hydrogen infrastructure will for the first time be installed, mimicking the natural gas network, and tested in a real-life scenario over the course of several years’ operation. In other words: The entire German gas network is reflected in miniature. The testing focuses, among other things, on system components and pipeline technology, as well as safety engineering for public supply systems, and also new invoicing models.
“Green gases and especially green hydrogen are an essential part of the energy transition for us. That’s why projects like the Reallabor WESTKÜSTE100 help us to transform better and faster.”
Long-term vision
The success of this project would be a significant milestone for us, in order to master the leap into a carbon-neutral world, and to gather experience for the transformation route necessary. In that regard, we not only keep the national climate goals in view, but also our own business model – which should remain long-term and tenable. As one of the leading long-distance pipeline network operators, we therefore wish to develop new hydrogen-related technologies, test them and improve them. We do that across sectors, together with partners, as well as with a regional focus. The region Westküste (Schleswig-Holstein Westcoast) offers the best prerequisites for that. Should our model be implemented, the WESTKÜSTE100 real-world laboratory would be the starting point for transferring findings to other sites or network areas for the supply of hydrogen to industry, mobility and the heating sector.