Evonik Industries AG, the second-largest specialty chemical company in Germany, has made a 50-kilometer pipeline available to transport hydrogen from production sites to industries in parts of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The pipeline, which starts from Legden, will transport hydrogen gas to a key industrial zone, the Marl Chemical Park, and the Gelsenkirchen refinery. 

It consists of a 41-kilometre repurposed natural gas pipeline, a newly built 3-kilometre section across the Marl Chemical Park, and about 10 kilometres of hydrogen pipeline to a refinery at Gelsenkirchen-Scholven. 

This newly available hydrogen pipeline network is part of a larger initiative called the GET H2 Nukleus project, which aims to transport green hydrogen produced through electrolysis in northern Germany to industrial customers located in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia.

Andreas Cieslik, Head of Evonik's Pipeline Business, said Tuesday that work on the now completed pipeline had been going on for the past two years to ensure they are fit for hydrogen transport amid the growing demand. 

"In almost two years of intensive project work, we and our partners have successfully converted a natural gas pipeline for hydrogen operation and built new sections," said Cieslik.

With Germany actively transitioning to low-emission energy supplies to achieve its greenhouse gas neutrality target by 2045, the Marl chemicals site has recently gained popularity as a hydrogen hub. 

Recently, Evonik launched a startup to produce green methanol at the site using captured CO2 and green hydrogen. The site also hosts the Rheticus research project, a spin-off from the Kopernikus projects. 

Rheticus research project is a collaboration between Evonik and Siemens Energy launched in January 2018. It focuses on developing a method to efficiently produce specialty chemicals from CO2 and water through artificial synthesis using electricity generated from renewable sources. 

In addition to the project, Evonik is also investing in a pilot plant to produce a proprietary anion exchange membrane crucial for green hydrogen production through the process known as AEM electrolysis.