ONTRAS Gastransport GmbH of Leipzig has now awarded major contracts to two pipe companies within the Salzgitter Group. Mannesmann Grossrohr GmbH (MGR) will supply pipes for 70.6 kilometers, and Mannesmann Line Pipe GmbH (MLP) for 38.2 kilometers. These pipes are for the new FGL 702 project (part of the IPCEI project Green Octopus Central Germany), a hydrogen pipeline from Wefensleben to Salzgitter and from Angersdorf to Preußlitz. This project is another building block of the hydrogen core network and the energy transition and lays one of the foundations for the production of “green steel” in Salzgitter.

The integrated steelworks in Salzgitter has been transitioning to low-carbon steel production in several phases for some time now. For the SALCOS transformation program—Salzgitter Low CO2 Steelmaking—hydrogen is an increasingly important resource for producing “green steel,” which is why the connection to the hydrogen core network and its rapid construction are of great importance.

“We are proud to be part of this important project and that the hydrogen for SALCOS will flow through pipes from the Salzgitter Group,” explains Andreas Betzler, Managing Director of the two Salzgitter companies. “The Salzgitter Group is not only a potentially major consumer of hydrogen; with its steel products, it also enables its production and delivery to customers.”

MGR is supplying pipes with a diameter of 813 millimeters; these are coated in Salzgitter with a 3-layer polyethylene coating on the outside and an epoxy flowcoat on the inside. Approximately 4.5 kilometers of the pipeline will receive an additional GRP coating, applied by the specialist firm TDC from Neubrandenburg. The pipes, which are 18 meters long, weigh approximately 4.5 tons and are scheduled to be delivered by truck starting in February 2027 to pipe storage sites located an average of just 37 kilometers from the pipe mill.

The diameter of the 18-meter-long pipes from MLP is 610 millimeters. At the Hamm site, these pipes will receive both a 3-layer polyethylene coating and a Flowcoat interior coating to minimize friction losses during gas flow. The GRP section, also applied by TDC, covers approximately six kilometers here.

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