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“In order for the use of green hydrogen to have a real chance of success, the costs will have to be reduced.”
Together with Gasunie and Shell, Groningen Seaports has reached
the conclusion that this can only be achieved through large-scale production. With the support of the Province of Groningen, an ambitious project that covers the entire hydrogen chain has been formulated to this end. König sums up what NortH2 comprises: “Giant new offshore wind farms must start generating green electricity on
a large scale. After this electricity has been brought ashore in the Northern Netherlands, it can be used to produce green hydrogen
in electrolysers that are to be locally built in Eemshaven. Gasunie’s extensive pipeline network can next be used for the subsequent distribution throughout the Netherlands and even beyond.” König mainly expects to serve industrial customers. In addition to existing and new companies in Groningen Seaports’ own port and industrial area, he anticipates interest from other large industrial clusters, such as the Chemelot chemical complex in the south of the Netherlands and the port of Amsterdam. Locations that have fewer options to produce green hydrogen on a large scale themselves. “Furthermore, here in the Northern Netherlands we have ample space to install spherical storage tanks and we can safely store green hydrogen underground in empty salt mines to next distribute it on demand.”
TEN GIGAWATTS AT SEA IN 2040
It is the ambition of NortH2 to realise three to four gigawatts of wind capacity at sea by 2030. Next, it aims to further expand this to ten gigawatts by 2040 – enough to produce 800,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually. By way of comparison: ten gigawatts is sufficient
to generate electricity for 12.5 million households; 800,000 tonnes of green hydrogen equals a reduction in CO2 emissions of approximately seven megatonnes per year.
However, a lot of work still needs to be done before the first of possibly more than a thousand wind turbines for NortH2 will be constructed at sea. König: “We publicly announced the project in February 2020. The consortium and the Province are currently carrying out a feasibility study involving twenty full-time employees in which
we are mapping out the preconditions.” All the various aspects are assessed: from the new wind farms at sea that will be required in the future and the manner in which all this electricity will be transported to the shore to the requirements for constructing huge electrolysers and, following that, all the steps that are required to transport and distribute the hydrogen to potential customers. Another relevant question in
that respect is the price point at which hydrogen becomes interesting to them. “As project partners, we will soon decide whether we will advance NortH2 to the next phase.”
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
Generating ten gigawatts of wind energy at sea and then converting
it into green hydrogen in one or more electrolysers requires a high degree of innovation, realises König. The fact that the European Union
has appointed the Northern Netherlands as the first Hydrogen Valley certainly helps in this respect. Brussels has subsequently awarded a subsidy of twenty million euros.
Of course, support from the Dutch government is required as well. The hydrogen vision it presented in early 2020 is an important step towards this. In view of the ambitious Dutch climate goals, the CEO of Groningen Seaports urges for further action to be taken. “Political parties are holding each other hostage over choices that need to be made about the required energy transition and sometimes decisions that have been taken are actually reversed. That deters foreign investors. I advocate the appointment of an independent national energy commissioner who, with the support of experts, can make decisions without the need to consider political interests.”
CONSTRUCTION TO COMMENCE IN 2024
Assuming that the feasibility study has a positive outcome, NortH2
has the ambition to in the near future expand the current consortium with parties interested in concretely investing in the construction of wind farms and electrolysers. By 2027, a first gigawatt of offshore wind energy should have been installed. Calculating backwards, construction should then commence around 2024 to achieve this. “Procedures are lengthy. It is therefore important that key decisions are taken within the foreseeable future.”
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