Germany just activated Herne Hydrogen Valley — the world's first complete industrial district where every factory, furnace, and production facility operates exclusively on green hydrogen, eliminating natural gas from 34 manufacturing facilities in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The Herne district connects to a dedicated 140-kilometer green hydrogen pipeline supplying fuel from a 400-megawatt offshore wind electrolysis facility located in the North Sea. Steel mills, chemical plants, glass manufacturers, and ceramic facilities all receive hydrogen at required pressures for direct fuel substitution without any production process modification required. Combined CO2 reduction across all 34 facilities reaches 3.8 million tonnes annually — equivalent to eliminating a medium-scale European coal power station completely.
Herne demonstrates industrial decarbonization needs no technology reinvention — existing equipment runs on hydrogen with minor burner adjustments, and economics become viable when pipeline infrastructure delivers fuel competitively to clustered consumers sharing one network.
Source: Thyssenkrupp Germany, EVONIK Industries, German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs, 2025
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