The Netherlands plans to develop the first large-scale, 500MW offshore hydrogen project by 2031. The site north of the Wadden islands was already planned for windfarm development and has existing gas infrastructure that could be repurposed for hydrogen.

The Dutch government confirms it intends to link the 500MW project to gas infrastructure firm Gasunie’s planned hydrogen transport network in the Netherlands.

Gasunie last year started construction on its Dutch hydrogen network. Last month, the company applied for EU Project of Common Interest status on its planned German hydrogen network, which it plans to link up to the Dutch network to enable cross-border flows.

50–100MW – Dutch offshore hydrogen pilot project capacity

The Dutch government will first develop a 50–100MW pilot offshore hydrogen project, with a preferred location to be determined later this year.

The announcement comes amid rising interest in offshore hydrogen production in the North Sea. Risk management group DNV last week published a report indicating the North Sea could be a major production hub owing to the relative cost-effectiveness of transporting hydrogen via pipeline compared with transmitting offshore wind electricity for onshore production—providing impetus to the planned Aquaductus pipeline in the German North Sea. And this week, energy company Centrica and French developer Lhyfe have agreed to jointly develop a pilot offshore hydrogen project in the UK North Sea.

The Netherlands aims to install 4GW of green hydrogen production capacity by 2030, with an interim target of 500MW by 2025. But while a number of projects with more than 100MW of capacity are in development, particularly around the ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, only one—Shell’s 200MW Holland Hydrogen I—has taken FID.

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Author: Polly Martin