Gasnetz Hamburg earns a profit of over EUR 17 million

9 September 2021

Municipal company remains on success course despite pandemic - focus on climate protection and transforming energy system

Gasnetz Hamburg remained on a successful course in 2020 despite the pandemic and earned a profit of EUR 17.2 million, a press release said Saturday (August 18, 2021). The monies will be transferred to the City of Hamburg, which bought back the natural gas network in 2018. A year later, Gasnetz Hamburg closed the fiscal with its first profit.

Goal of climate neutrality by 2030

Total investments in 2020 came to EUR 37.8 million and were mainly in gas grid operations and modern workplaces. "We are proud to have once again made a significant contribution to the Hamburg Metropolitan Region's economic clout," said Christian Heine, Commercial Director of Gasnetz Hamburg. Last year, the company had to take considerable coronavirus protection measures to meet supplies reliably. Yet, the volume of natural gas transported dropped by a mere 1 per cent. The company also had a high training rate (10.9 per cent) and employee numbers increased to 532 from 479 in 2019.

Gasnetz Hamburg to rely on hydrogen

Gasnetz Hamburg aims to become climate-neutral by 2030 and has cut its CO2 emissions by around a third over levels in 2012 by investing in buildings and technology. The gas supply is also boosting climate protection with a higher proportion of bio-methane in the network last year. The envisaged Hamburg Hydrogen Industry Network (HH-WIN) will go a long way towards lowering CO2 emissions as green hydrogen could replace natural gas, especially in industry. Jens Kerstan, Senator for the Environment, said: "The transformation of the energy system in Hamburg has begun. The gas grid plays an important role therein with the planned hydrogen industrial network in the Port of Hamburg. It will provide green hydrogen for decarbonising key port industries." The 60 kilometre-long hydrogen industrial network would slash Hamburg's CO2 emissions by well over one million tonnes annually by 2030, Kerstan pointed out.

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