A BMW plant in the automaker's home country has begun construction on a hydrogen pipeline to connect it to the hydrogen grid, making it the first plant worldwide with a direct connection to one, according to BMW Group.

The pipeline in Leipzig in the state of Saxony will be more than a mile long and is scheduled to be completed and commissioned in the first half of 2028. The project is co-financed by the European Fund for Regional Development and the Free State of Saxony.

“The new pipeline will establish Leipzig as a key hub for the hydrogen economy and make it one of the first industrial sites in Saxony to be connected to the core hydrogen network,” said Prime Minister of the Free State of Saxony Michael Kretschmer.

According to the German automaker, Plant Leipzig operates Europe’s largest hydrogen fuel-cell-powered intralogistics fleet, and it has been using hydrogen in its paint shop to help power dual-fuel paint furnaces since 2022.

Once the plant is connected to the hydrogen grid, BMW plans to “power high-temperature, energy-intensive processes such as paint-drying purely with hydrogen rather than natural gas.”

BMW isn’t the only automaker pursuing the alternative fuel. Toyota has researched hydrogen fuel cell technology since the 1990s and launched the first mass-produced fuel cell vehicle, the Mirai, in 2014. Last year it announced plans to build new hydrogen fueling stations in the U.S. and strengthen the hydrogen infrastructure network.