How should the power networks in the city of Hamburg be planned and expanded to ensure a reliable supply of green energy for everyone in industry, transportation, and households? The municipal network operators Hamburger Energienetze and Hamburger Energiewerke are addressing this question. In the North German Real Laboratory, they are working together with Hamburg University of Technology, Helmut Schmidt University, and Lübeck University of Applied Sciences to develop methods and instruments for planning the energy networks of the future as an integrated system.

How can urban energy supply be designed to be more climate-friendly, resilient, and fit for the future? This question was addressed by the EU‑funded research project mySMARTLife, in which innovative solutions for sustainable urban districts were trialled across Europe. Hamburg Energienetze participated in the project and, in the process, gained valuable insights for the heating supply of tomorrow.

In the BMWK-funded ‘HyReflexS’ project, the Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg, the Helmholtz Centre Hereon and Capgemini Engineering Germany, together with Hamburger Energienetze and Hamburger Hochbahn, are researching the use of hydrogen technologies for the emergency power supply of electrified bus service hubs. The project, scheduled to run for several years, will combine controllable electrolysis and fuel cell systems with metal hydride-based hydrogen storage systems to create an integrated control power plant. This way, ‘HyReflexS’ directly connects the electricity, gas and mobility sectors with the help of a power-to-gas plant that can be reversibly operated. The demonstrator makes it possible to use hydrogen in the energy system in a similar way to a battery and to enable new flexibilities for balancing fluctuating energy volumes.

Climate-neutral hydrogen does not necessarily have to be produced via electrolysis. In the MEDEA project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Hamburger Energienetze together with research partners CC4E at HAW Hamburg and iplas Innovative Plasma Systems GmbH have been developing an innovative solution: low-temperature plasma cracking technology. The results are promising. Using microwave plasma, the technology can extract solid carbon and hydrogen from methane. In experimental series, researchers have determined the optimal operational parameters for the plant. The process allows the clean and energy-efficient conversion of gases into green or turquoise hydrogen, using biogas, natural gas, LNG, and other hydrocarbon mixtures as feedstock. The only by-product is powdered carbon, which can be sustainably used as a valuable raw material in many industrial processes. Thanks to the flexible and scalable operation of this technology, the project partners see MEDEA as a promising bridging technology on the path toward a greener hydrogen economy.

The fact that hydrogen and natural gas can be easily mixed has been proven by the Hamburg energy networks as part of their mySMARTLife funding project. But how can natural gas and hydrogen be separated again? This process can be crucial for refuelling stations for natural gas and hydrogen cars, but also for other customer segments. As an associated partner of the H₂Sep project, Hamburger Energienetze wants to take a closer look at the possibilities of membrane-based H₂ separation after H₂ storage and transport in the natural gas infrastructure in the coming years. Concerns regarding the purity of extracted hydrogen will also stay in focus. The project aims to investigate an important aspect of possible pipeline sections in mixed gas operation and thus create a future option for such solutions.

Green hydrogen is an important pillar of the energy transition, especially for industry and business. However, the role it may play in the future heating supply of private households is still largely unexplored. This is where the pilot project H2‑SWITCH100 came in. From 2023 to 2025, the project investigated whether existing natural gas pipelines in Hamburg-Harburg are fundamentally suitable for operation with hydrogen. To this end, Hamburg Energienetze examined the materials and components of a total of 16 domestic and commercial connections, as well as the low‑pressure gas network running through the project area - all under real-life operating conditions. The area was deliberately selected because it contains materials and components of varying ages.