Germany and UK in talks over 400-mile hydrogen pipeline under the North Sea

Germany

LONDON — Germany has asked the U.K. to consider the construction of a 400-mile hydrogen pipeline under the North Sea to provide it with hydrogen — as Europe’s largest economy searches for ways to break its dependence on fossil fuels.

The country’s Green Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck raised the idea of a pipeline at a meeting with U.K. Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch earlier this month, according to two people familiar with discussions.

Germany is set to become by far Europe’s largest hydrogen import market over the coming decades, with plans to buy roughly 70 percent of the hydrogen it needs to reach its net zero goals from abroad.

Hydrogen East