Network development plans for electricity and gas serve to adapt to the changing requirements of generation and consumption. The expansion of renewable energies has not only been influencing the expansion of the electricity grid for some time, but recently also that of the gas grid in order to be able to transport energy in the form of hydrogen from electrolysis.

In the expansion of the grid, the planning of new lines and routes for the electricity and gas grids takes place largely independently of each other. If the routes were planned together, costs and environmental impact could be reduced.

The aim should be to plan new routes jointly for pipelines as well as power lines. The economic and ecological advantage of route bundling lies in the significant increase in energy transport capacity without requiring significant additional land.

In theoretical preliminary studies, the suitability for laying pipelines in parallel was demonstrated in existing cable route projects. However, it is necessary to examine the individual routes in detail to identify possible critical sections and create solutions.

ILF Consulting Engineers proposes to investigate and calculate the technical feasibility and the economic as well as ecological advantage of a hydrogen pipeline in a power line. For this purpose, real construction projects of the grid development plans for electricity and gas are to be combined. A positive result could be transferred to future projects.