Planned to transport up to 20,000m3/h of hydrogen, the 95km Mosel Saar Hydrogen Conversion (mosaHYc) pipeline, is set to connect hydrogen producers and users throughout Völklingen (Germany), Carling (France) Bouzonville (France) and Perl (Germany).

The 50km French section of pipeline – 45km of which will be converted natural gas infrastructure – will be headed by ENGIE subsidiary GRTgaz, while Creos will be responsible for the 40km German section, each expected to cost €40m ($42.9m) and €70m ($75m) respectively.

Despite ENGIE announcing it had taken FID on its 50km section of the project, Creos has said the implementation of the German leg of mosaHYc will rely on the “outstanding Important Project of Common Interest (IPCEI) funding decision from the [German] federal government and the FID based on it.”

ENGIE told H2 View that the German part of mosaHYc was awarded the IPCEI label in February (2024), allowing the German government to “derogate from the usual subsidy rules – designed to avoid distortion of competition.”

“Creos is now awaiting notification from the German government, which will make the subsidy official, probably in May. It is highly unlikely that the German government will not notify Creos, as the application for the label is supported by the German government,” added an ENGIE representative.

H2 View has also contacted Creos Germany for comment on its section of the pipeline.

Commissioning for the project is scheduled for 2027, with a company under Saarland-based steelmaking company Stahl-Holding-Saar’s (SHS) portfolio set to be the first client. The company launched a tender last month (March 2024) to procure up to 50,000 tonnes of green hydrogen, aimed at suppliers along the mosaHYc pipeline.

Read more: Saarland steel industry launches tender for 50,000 tonnes of green hydrogen

Rogesa, a joint subsidiary of Dillinger and Saarstahl, will purchase the hydrogen, using mosaHYc to ensure its transport to the Dillingen steel site and allow for the production of CO2-reduced steel in its Power4Steel decarbonisation project, although that supplier is unknown.

A press release from Creos outlined that a trilateral agreement had been signed between itself, GRTgaz and Rogesa, which will lay the foundation of the development for mosaHYc.

Cécile Prévieu, ENGIE Executive Vice-President in charge of networks activities, stated the pipeline will contribute to the company’s goal of “700km of hydrogen-dedicated transport networks by 2030.”

“The mosaHYc project has a strategic value as the first Franco-German link, paving the way for the development of a wider European hydrogen network,” he said.