Hydrogen for Austria and Europe

The project "H2 Backbone WAG + Penta-West" provides for the extension of the West-Austria gas pipeline and the Penta-West pipeline for hydrogen transport. This would allow hydrogen to be transported to and from Slovakia and Germany in the future.

Hydrogen is an important building block for the secure and climate-neutral energy supply of the future. The "H2 Backbone WAG + Penta-West" project of Gas Connect Austria provides for the extension of two existing gas pipelines: The West-Austria-Gasleitung (WAG) and the Penta-West (PW) pipeline will each receive a parallel line for the transport of hydrogen.

Enabling cross-border hydrogen transport

The plan is to build 220 kilometres of new pipeline and upgrade 140 kilometres of the existing power system. This would make it possible to transport about 150 gigawatt hours of hydrogen per day between Austria and Slovakia, and Austria and Germany in both directions from 2030. The goal is to connect regions with great potential for hydrogen production with regions with high demand. In this way, European industry and the economy could be supplied with sufficient and affordable energy in the future.

Part of the Europe-wide RePowerEU initiative

The project "H2 Backbone WAG + Penta-West" increases domestic supply security and contributes to Austrian and European climate goals. It was submitted to the European Commission as a Project of Common Interest (PCI) and in November 2023, the project was included in the Union list of PCI. This opens up the prospect of accelerated approval and implementation procedures as well as possible European funding. The hydrogen transport routes created by the project are also part of the REPowerEU initiative for affordable, secure and sustainable energy in Europe.

Further information on the project can be found here: H2 Backbone WAG + Penta-West.