Česky
Czech Hydrogen Backbone NORTH
The Czech Hydrogen Backbone NORTH will establish a connection between the future Czech hydrogen transmission system in the northwest with the German transmission system and in the southeast with the Slovak hydrogen transmission system. In the territory of the Czech Republic, this involves modifications of a total of approximately 381 km of one of the existing pipelines of the northern branch between the VIP Brandov and the IP Lanžhot border points for the transmission of pure hydrogen. The project forms part of three significant European initiatives: The Central European Hydrogen Corridor (CEHC) enabling the transmission of hydrogen from sources in Ukraine, the SunsHyne corridor (sources from North Africa), and the South-East European Hydrogen Corridor (SEEHyC) ensuring the availability of hydrogen from the Balkan Peninsula region. In the opposite direction, the project will enable the transmission of hydrogen from Germany to Slovakia and other countries in Central and Southeastern Europe. Last, but not least, the project will ensure the supply of clean hydrogen to demand clusters in the Czech Republic along the entire route, particularly in the northern Bohemia region, where the highest consumption of hydrogen is expected.
This project has been included in the list of Projects of Common Interest/Projects of Mutual Interest (PCI/PMI) in 2025 under number 10.5.2 Internal hydrogen infrastructure in Czechia, as part of the CEHC corridor.
The project is currently in the planning phase. The feasibility study was completed at the end of 2025. In 2024, NET4GAS obtained the opinions of the regional nature conservation authorities of all four Regions concerned (i. e. the Regions of Ústí nad Labem and Central Bohemia, the Vysočina Region and the South Moravian Region), according to which the project, or, in legislative terminology, the intention, “Czech Hydrogen Backbone NORTH”:
- cannot have a significant impact on the subject of protection or the integrity of Natura 2000 sites of European importance or on special protection areas, pursuant to Act No. 114/1992 Coll., on the Protection of Nature and the Landscape, and, furthermore
- represents an insignificant change to the existing intention and as such is not subject to assessment under Act No. 100/2001 Coll., on Environmental Impact Assessment.
In 2025, in accordance with the requirements of Article 67 of Act 114/1992 Coll., an assessment of the impact of the project on nature conservation interests was initiated. In parallel, and with the eventuality of EU financial support in mind, screening with regard to the “Do No Significant Harm” principle, within the meaning of the Regulation (EU) 2020/852, was initiated, focusing on biodiversity and natural ecosystems. The aforementioned assessment and the screening are expected to be completed during 2026.
The permitting process should begin in the autumn of 2026 and last until the summer of 2028. A public consultation on the project is planned for the second half of2026. The construction works themselves are scheduled to take place from summer 2031 till the end of 2032, when the commissioning is expected to take place.
Further information about the project can be found in the national Ten-Year Network Development Plan 2026—2035 (in Czech only), Annex A, pages 26-27. We will be happy to answer questions about the project and its planning at the e-mail address h2readiness@net4gas.cz.
More information about the corridors is available at:
The project forms part of these planned corridors:
SunsHyne Corridor:
South-East European Hydrogen Corridor:
Central European Hydrogen Corridor:
Project on the Czech territory:
For up-to-date information on PCI projects, we refer to the website of the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA)
Date of last page update: June 3 2026