Same Length, Different Logic: China’s Industrial Hydrogen Pipeline Versus Germany’s Backbone - CleanTechnica

The article compares China’s existing 1,000 km-plus industrial hydrogen pipeline with Germany’s planned hydrogen backbone, highlighting that despite superficial similarities, the two projects differ fundamentally in purpose, scale, demand anchoring, and risk allocation. Germany’s hydrogen backbone was designed under policy assumptions treating hydrogen as a versatile energy carrier with projected demand across multiple sectors including power generation, industrial heat, transport, and e-fuels. However, these projections were not tied to binding contracts or specific industrial timelines, resulting in a completed initial pipeline segment with no significant customers and costs already embedded in electricity tariffs. Realistic assessments drastically reduce Germany’s hydrogen demand estimates from 110–130 TWh to roughly 4–14 TWh, as sectors like refining, transport, steel production, and power generation shift toward alternatives such as electrification, scrap recycling, and biomethane. In contrast, China’s hydrogen pipeline serves a well-defined industrial purpose, transporting hydrogen primarily used as feedstock in refining, ammonia, methanol,