The European Commission has approved Germany’s plans to spend €3bn on supporting the construction of its planned 9,700km hydrogen core network (HCN).

Planned to act as the backbone of long-distance transport pipelines for hydrogen in Germany, the HCN will connect hydrogen production centres with industrial users, storage facilities, power plants and import corridors.

Under the original plans announced by Berlin last November, 60% (5,820km) of the total network length will be converted natural gas pipelines, with the remaining 3,880km expected to be new dedicated hydrogen pipelines – which will be supported by the German financing scheme.