Germany Weighs Norway Hydrogen Pipeline to Avoid Russian Energy

(Bloomberg) -- Germany and Norway are considering building a hydrogen pipeline linking the two nations to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian energy supplies.

The countries plan to soon conduct a feasibility study on the project that would eventually transport green hydrogen from Norway to Germany, they said late Wednesday after a meeting between German Economy Minister Robert Habeck and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.

“Over the coming months and years, it will be extremely important to speed up the development of alternative energy sources for Europe as substitutes for Russian gas and oil and to develop the necessary infrastructure for this,” Germany and Norway said in a joint statement.

Germany has been pushing to overhaul its energy supply since Russia invaded Ukraine. Europe’s largest economy gets more than half of its gas, half of its coal and roughly a third of its oil from Russia.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has vowed to bolster the nation’s gas and coal storage facilities to reduce its exposure to any potential supply disruptions. The government is also buying liquefied natural gas, backing efforts to build new LNG terminals and pushing for a faster expansion of renewables.

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