In mid-December, the conversion of the northern section of the Opal gas pipeline - Nord Stream's extended on-land route - to hydrogen transportation was completed. The southern part is expected to be deployed and completed by the end of 2030.
The information was announced by Uniper energy group in a notice of withdrawal from the project and reselling of the 20% shares it is holding.
"Opal is one of the largest energy transport corridors in Europe, about 470km long, connecting from Lubmin, Germany to Brandov, Czech Republic. As part of the German national hydrogen network, Opal's northern section has been completed in mid-December 2025, while the southern section will be completed by the end of 2030," the German gas importer said in a statement.
Uniper also said that it is starting the process of selling all 20% of its shares in the Opal project.
Gascade - Opal's operator - did not directly name the Opal gas pipeline but confirmed that this year, about 400km of this gas pipeline has been successfully converted to serve hydrogen transportation.
In the Lubmin region, where Opal connects to Nord Stream, technical operations will soon resume, Gascade said. According to the operator, the hot flame burning method, which is using controlled open fire to safely release and burn a small amount of remaining gas in the pipeline, cannot be completely pumped out due to technical limitations.
Opal has transported gas from Nord Stream and was partly controlled by Russia's Gazprom Group until April 2022, when the German government placed Gazprom Germany, Gazprom's German branch, under the management of the Federal Network Agency.
After the conversion, Opal will become an important part of Germany's national hydrogen network.
According to Gascade, the supply of hydrogen to the first sections of the pipeline under the Flow program will help form a north-south hydrogen transport axis, from the Baltic Sea to the state of Saxony-Anhalt, thereby creating the central core of the German hydrogen network. Hydropower infrastructure is now ready to be launched on the market.
In the next phase, Germany plans to expand its hydrogen network to the south, connecting to major industrial centers.
However, Alexey Grivach - Deputy Director of the German National Energy Security Fund - said that Germany currently does not have both a suitable source of production and demand for hydrogen. The current infrastructure is also not suitable for transporting pure hydrogen. The pipes can be durable, but the compressing system needs to be replaced.
Along with Opal, the Nel gas pipeline - an extension of Nord Stream 2 - also runs in parallel. Unlike the Nord Stream 2 main route that has never been put into operation, Nel was used by Russia to get gas from Nord Stream to supply the German market.
Western media had previously reported US investors' interest in the Nord Stream system, which was severely damaged by the sabotage in September 2022. pipeline operators have expressed their desire to resume operations after the conflict in Ukraine ended.
