The Netherlands wants Gasunie to develop offshore hydrogen network in the North Sea

Dutch Minister for Climate and Energy Policy Rob Jetten intends to appoint energy infrastructure firm Gasunie to develop an offshore hydrogen network in the North Sea.

According to Gasunie, the Minister announced its intention to the House of Representatives on 2 December 2022.

Hydrogen produced using offshore wind energy from the North Sea is expected to play an important role in the energy transition as well as contribute to increasing energy independence in the country.

The Netherlands recently set a target of 70 GW of offshore wind energy until 2050, based on the assumption that 50 GW could be installed by 2040.

In addition to electricity generation, the Government also plans for some of the country’s offshore wind capacity to be used for large-scale green hydrogen production in the North Sea, which requires a hydrogen infrastructure.

Gasunie’s CEO Han Fennema said the company is ready to start developing a hydrogen network and is specifically looking at how the existing gas infrastructure in the North Sea can be reused.

Earlier this year, the Netherlands signed the Esbjerg Declaration with Belgium, Denmark and Germany vowing to bring at least 65 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and 150 GW by 2050 and setting combined green hydrogen targets of about 20 GW production capacity by 2030, which could be expanded even further for 2050.

Furthermore, the countries agreed to jointly develop The North Sea as a Green Power Plant of Europe, an offshore renewable energy system that will consist of multiple connected offshore energy projects and hubs, offshore wind production at a massive scale as well as electricity and green hydrogen interconnectors.

In line with the declaration, Gasunie recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Danish energy company Energinet to accelerate the preparations for cross-border hydrogen infrastructure between Denmark and Germany.