Delta Rhine Corridor East

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate previously published a Notification of Intention and Proposal for Participation for the Delta Rhine Corridor in 2023. The plan at the time was to construct six pipelines and several underground direct current connections. In late 2024, the relevant ministers decided to develop the Delta Rhine Corridor only for hydrogen and CO₂ pipelines. The project procedure was subsequently restarted and split up into DRC West (Maasvlakte–Boxtel: hydrogen and CO₂) and DRC East (Boxtel–German border: CO₂).

The project area for DRC East was also changed at that time. The branch from Chemelot to Reuver has been removed from the plan for now. Given that fewer pipelines and cables will be needed, the search area for a connection to the German network on the border near Venlo is now smaller.

Where relevant, feedback on the Notification of Intention and Proposal for Participation from 2023 will be taken into consideration in the next steps for the procedure.

The route for the pipelines is, for the most part, already known. This is because they will be laid in a pipeline corridor that has already been designated. Known as the ‘PEH corridor’, this is the area that the Dutch government has reserved for (future) underground pipelines under its Main Energy Structure Programme (Programma Energiehoofdstructuur, or PEH). On this webpage, you can see the routes of these pipeline corridors in the Netherlands.

In some locations along this PEH corridor we also already know that there is limited space to install the pipeline. Together with our colleagues who are designing the corridor, we are investigating what is possible and where we need to deviate from this pipeline corridor at certain locations. We will only deviate from the PEH corridor in areas where there is no room left in the corridor, where there are (technical or land-use) obstacles or where we need space to cross obstacles such as railways. 

At present, we know too little about the exact route to engage with landowners about it. At a later stage, Gasunie will contact landowners whose land the pipelines may pass through.

The DRC East pipeline will link up with the CO₂ network in Germany. We are currently looking into where exactly the pipeline can cross the border.

Wherever possible, the pipeline will run along the special corridor that the Dutch government has designated for underground pipelines (the ‘PEH corridor’). This corridor runs along the border for about 8 kilometres between the town of Reuver and the A74 motorway. This is where we are looking for an area with enough space for a single CO₂ pipeline. We have identified several places where the pipeline could cross the border. Talks about these options with Gasunie’s German partner, OGE, are meanwhile underway.

In 2023, we were still looking at a larger area, because the project still included several pipelines and cables at the time. Since this is no longer the case, the area north of the A74 motorway has largely been excluded from the search scope. Only a small area along the A74 motorway is still being considered as an option. 

Since there was too little market potential in carbon capture and transport from Chemelot to Reuver, this section has not been included in the DRC East project procedure.

Several Gasunie projects will either cross DRC East or partially run along the same route: 

• The Delta Rhine Corridor West concerns the construction of pipelines to transport hydrogen and CO₂ from Rotterdam to Moerdijk and on to Boxtel. DRC East will link up with DRC West at Boxtel.
• DRC East shares the middle part of its route, which passes through the municipalities of Horst aan de Maas, Peel en Maas, Beesel and Venlo, with a section of the Limburg hydrogen network.
• In the eastern part of the Netherlands, there are plans to repurpose an existing natural gas pipeline for hydrogen gas transmission. This pipeline is planned to run from Ommen to Boxtel, by way of Angerlo and Ravenstein. At Boxtel, the Eastern Netherlands Hydrogen Network will cross DRC East.