UK-Germany Joint Study on the Trade of Hydrogen

Publication

This joint study by Arup, Dena and Adelphi outlines the feasibility of and steps needed for potential future pipeline-based hydrogen trade between the UK and Germany.

Last updated: April 2025

The main objective of this study was to provide a basis for the UK and German governments to consider the potential for a future hydrogen interconnector to facilitate trade of hydrogen between the two countries. As the respective hydrogen markets develop, there is a significant opportunity to establish pipeline-based hydrogen trade between these two countries.

Through regulations, business models and commercial arrangements analyses, as well as a high-level infrastructure assessment, Arup, Dena and Adelphi have laid out several key activities necessary to support the development of the international hydrogen trade market.

These activities include the development of onshore networks, the alignment of technical requirements for the trading of the hydrogen molecule, and supporting the convening of the market to secure agreements between producers and offtakers. To this end, this study outlines a series of ‘delivery enablers’ and proposes preliminary focus areas to initiate them.

This study was commissioned by the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz (BMWK) under the ‘UK-Germany Hydrogen Partnership’.