Stadtwerke Schüttorf-Emsbüren secures connection option

Contract signed for valve station on Nordsee-Ruhr-Link III 

Gas network operator Open Grid Europe GmbH (OGE) and Stadtwerke Schüttorf-Emsbüren GmbH have signed a contract for a valve station on the Nordsee-Ruhr-Link III pipeline. It gives the distribution network operator the option to connect to Germany's future hydrogen transport infrastructure in the Emsland region. 

Nordsee-Ruhr-Link III is part of the hydrogen core network, which the Federal Network Agency and the German government commissioned OGE and other gas transmission system operators to build in October 2024. It is designed to connect national producers and consumers of hydrogen and will link up with the northern hydrogen import corridor. This makes Nordsee-Ruhr-Link III the main route for moving hydrogen from the north, where most of it is produced, to the main consumption centres in western Germany. The pipeline, for which the core network has set a commissioning date of 2027, will run for approximately 122 kilometres from Bunde in East Frisia through the Emsland region to Wettringen in North Rhine-Westphalia. From there the hydrogen will flow via other core network pipelines to metropolitan areas and consumers in other sectors, such as industry.

The Emsland region and Nordsee-Ruhr-Link III stand to benefit from each other in that the numerous tees and valve stations along the route will give local hydrogen producers and consumers access to the Germany-wide core network. The municipal utility and OGE have agreed on a valve station in Schüttorf-Emsbüren, which will allow regional customers to be connected as and when required. 

Stadtwerke Schüttorf-Emsbüren GmbH is thus embracing hydrogen as a key component of tomorrow's energy landscape, which was welcomed by Henrich von Kopp-Colomb, Head of Customer Solutions at OGE: "We are delighted that, along with the district of Emsland and other distribution system operators, the municipal utility of Schüttorf-Emsbüren has now secured a connection to Nordsee-Ruhr-Link III and is supporting the ramp-up of hydrogen."

"With this project, we are investing in the future and creating the conditions for companies in the region to use hydrogen both as a sustainable energy source and as a raw material," said Daniel Kollbach, Managing Director of Stadtwerke Schüttorf-Emsbüren. 

Background: To allow gas customers to participate in the hydrogen ramp-up, OGE can provide a tie-in point for a branch line whose shape resembles the letter T, hence the term "tee", or a valve station. Securing the tee or the valve station itself does not involve any further investment in a pipeline connection or the booking of transportation capacities on the OGE network at that stage.