There are new plans for the destroyed Nord Stream 1 pipeline: in the future, it will no longer be used to transport Russian gas, but green hydrogen. One pipeline is to be converted as early as next year.
The decommissioned Nord Stream 1 pipeline in the Baltic Sea is to be given new life. This could happen as early as 2025. The focus is on the port of Lubmin in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
Baltic Sea: New function for Nord Stream 1
According to plans by two companies, a new plant for importing hydrogen is to be built there, as the Tagesschau reports. The infrastructure of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline is also to be used for this purpose. But this time no Russian gas will flow through the pipes.
Two companies have set themselves the ambitious goal of developing Lubmin into an important location for energy from hydrogen. According to Dennis Wehmeyer, head of the Hydrogen and Sustainability Department, the gas transport company Gascade plans to convert one of the three gas pipelines of Nord Stream 1 to hydrogen in 2025. Stefan Knabe, managing director of Deutsche Regas, announced that his company wants to import “green” hydrogen via Lubmin from the beginning of 2026.
Important energy location for Germany
“Lubmin will become a central energy hub for Germany,” promises Regas Managing Director Knabe. It is no coincidence that this port was chosen. It is ideal for this, particularly due to the existing infrastructure. In the future, hydrogen from the Baltic region, especially from Sweden and Finland, will also be fed into the port, said Wehmeyer from Gascade.
Knabe also plans to produce 30,000 tons of hydrogen there in two years. However, the focus will continue to be on importing hydrogen via the pipeline in the Baltic Sea. This is because it can be produced much more cheaply in other parts of the world with more sun and wind. He expects that 70 percent of the amount needed in Germany will have to be imported in the future.
