diff --git a/Snakefile b/Snakefile
index 72b726fc..c043e57a 100644
--- a/Snakefile
+++ b/Snakefile
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ rule simplify_network:
         network='networks/{network}_s{simpl}.nc',
         regions_onshore="resources/regions_onshore_{network}_s{simpl}.geojson",
         regions_offshore="resources/regions_offshore_{network}_s{simpl}.geojson",
-        clustermaps='resources/clustermaps_{network}_s{simpl}.h5'
+        busmap='resources/busmap_{network}_s{simpl}.csv'
     log: "logs/simplify_network/{network}_s{simpl}.log"
     benchmark: "benchmarks/simplify_network/{network}_s{simpl}"
     threads: 1
@@ -239,13 +239,14 @@ rule cluster_network:
         network='networks/{network}_s{simpl}.nc',
         regions_onshore="resources/regions_onshore_{network}_s{simpl}.geojson",
         regions_offshore="resources/regions_offshore_{network}_s{simpl}.geojson",
-        clustermaps=ancient('resources/clustermaps_{network}_s{simpl}.h5'),
+        busmap=ancient('resources/busmap_{network}_s{simpl}.csv'),
         tech_costs=COSTS
     output:
         network='networks/{network}_s{simpl}_{clusters}.nc',
         regions_onshore="resources/regions_onshore_{network}_s{simpl}_{clusters}.geojson",
         regions_offshore="resources/regions_offshore_{network}_s{simpl}_{clusters}.geojson",
-        clustermaps='resources/clustermaps_{network}_s{simpl}_{clusters}.h5'
+        busmap="resources/busmap_{network}_s{simpl}_{clusters}.csv",
+        linemap="resources/linemap_{network}_s{simpl}_{clusters}.csv"
     log: "logs/cluster_network/{network}_s{simpl}_{clusters}.log"
     benchmark: "benchmarks/cluster_network/{network}_s{simpl}_{clusters}"
     threads: 1
diff --git a/doc/release_notes.rst b/doc/release_notes.rst
index 732b7f8f..756b3dae 100644
--- a/doc/release_notes.rst
+++ b/doc/release_notes.rst
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ Upcoming Release
 
 * Use `mamba` (https://github.com/mamba-org/mamba) for faster Travis CI builds (`#196 <https://github.com/PyPSA/pypsa-eur/pull/196>`_)
 
+*  The mappings for clustered lines and buses produced by the ``simplify_network`` and ``cluster_network`` rules changed from Hierarchical Data Format (.h5) to Comma-Separated Values format (.csv) (`#198 <https://github.com/PyPSA/pypsa-eur/pull/198>`_)
+
 PyPSA-Eur 0.2.0 (8th June 2020)
 ==================================
 
diff --git a/scripts/cluster_network.py b/scripts/cluster_network.py
index a4da7cda..620d8868 100644
--- a/scripts/cluster_network.py
+++ b/scripts/cluster_network.py
@@ -371,11 +371,7 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
                                                focus_weights=focus_weights)
 
     clustering.network.export_to_netcdf(snakemake.output.network)
-    with pd.HDFStore(snakemake.output.clustermaps, mode='w') as store:
-        with pd.HDFStore(snakemake.input.clustermaps, mode='r') as clustermaps:
-            for attr in clustermaps.keys():
-                store.put(attr, clustermaps[attr], format="table", index=False)
-        for attr in ('busmap', 'linemap', 'linemap_positive', 'linemap_negative'):
-            store.put(attr, getattr(clustering, attr), format="table", index=False)
+    for attr in ('busmap', 'linemap'): #also available: linemap_positive, linemap_negative
+        getattr(clustering, attr).to_csv(snakemake.output[attr])
 
     cluster_regions((clustering.busmap,))
diff --git a/scripts/simplify_network.py b/scripts/simplify_network.py
index 74ba0a7e..d030a283 100644
--- a/scripts/simplify_network.py
+++ b/scripts/simplify_network.py
@@ -356,8 +356,7 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
 
     n.export_to_netcdf(snakemake.output.network)
 
-    busemap_s = reduce(lambda x, y: x.map(y), busmaps[1:], busmaps[0])
-    with pd.HDFStore(snakemake.output.clustermaps, mode='w') as store:
-        store.put('busmap_s', busemap_s, format="table", index=False)
+    busmap_s = reduce(lambda x, y: x.map(y), busmaps[1:], busmaps[0])
+    busmap_s.to_csv(snakemake.output.busmap)
 
     cluster_regions(busmaps, snakemake.input, snakemake.output)