Mannesmann line pipes for Germany’s hydrogen core network and green steel

• ONTRAS Gastransport GmbH awards contracts to the Salzgitter Group
• New FGL 702 pipeline is a building block of the hydrogen core network, enabling the production of “green steel”

Leipzig-based ONTRAS Gastransport GmbH has awarded major contracts to two line pipe member companies of the Salzgitter Group. Mannesmann Grossrohr GmbH (MGR) will be supplying the line pipes for 70.6 km (ca 18 Tt) and Mannesmann Line Pipe GmbH (MLP) for an additional 38.2 km (ca 6 Tt). These are line pipes destined for the new FGL 702 project, an H2 pipeline running from Wefensleben to Salzgitter and extending from Angersdorf on to Preußlitz. This undertaking is a further building block and integral part of the hydrogen core network and the energy transition and will pave the way for the production of “green steel” in Salzgitter.
 
The integrated steelworks in Salzgitter are to be converted in several stages to low-carbon steel production. For the SALCOS^® - Salzgitter Low CO₂ Steelmaking transformation program, hydrogen is an increasingly vital asset in producing “green steel”, which is why the connection to the hydrogen core network, along with its swift construction, is of tremendous significance.

“We are proud to be part of this important project and that hydrogen for SALCOS^® will flow through line pipes from the Salzgitter Group,” states Andreas Betzler, General Manager of the two Salzgitter companies. “The Salzgitter Group is not only a potentially major customer requiring hydrogen – providing its steel products means it also enables hydrogen’s production and supply to customers.”
 
MGR will be delivering line pipes in a diameter of 813 mm. These line pipes will be coated with a three-layer polyethylene topcoat and the interior with epoxy Flowcoat. Around 4.5 km of the line pipes will be given an additional GRP coating, applied by specialist company TDC from Neubrandenburg. At a length of 18 m, the line pipes will weigh around 4.5 t and, as from February 2027, are to be delivered by truck to pipe storage sites only 37 km away from the rolling mill.

The diameter of the MLP line pipes, also 18 m long, measures 610 mm. In order to minimize friction losses as the gas passes through, these line pipes will be given a three-layer polyethylene coating, as well as an interior Flowcoat coating at the Hamm location. The GRP portion, also provided by TDC, is approximately 6 km long.
 
FGL 702 is a component of the Green Octopus Mitteldeutschland (GO) IPCEI project.