As early as next year, the Dutch government could issue a tender for the construction of a 500MW offshore hydrogen electrolyzer that would be totally powered by neighboring offshore wind turbines.
A previously designated offshore wind farm location, Ten noorden van de Waddeneilanden, will now be used exclusively for the production of green hydrogen from offshore wind. Ten noorden van de Waddeneilanden is one of the locations selected last year by the Dutch government for future offshore wind farms, which may have a combined capacity of 13.4 GW across nine sites.
Because a wind farm at Ten noorden van de Waddeneilanden, offshore the province of Groningen, was already planned for the production of electricity, a natural gas pipeline nearby could be used to transport green hydrogen to land, and it can be properly connected to the onshore hydrogen network, the government announced that the area has been designated for large-scale offshore hydrogen production.
The project, which is billed as the first significant use of offshore hydrogen generating, is scheduled to start up in 2031.
Consultation
The Groningen region, Wadden Sea stakeholders, and other stakeholders will be consulted before any tenders are released by the Ministry for Climate and Energy Policy on matters like the pipeline’s landfall to bring the hydrogen from the offshore wind farm to shore and the project’s environmental aspects.
The first connection to Gasunie’s offshore hydrogen transport network, which is being built to send massive amounts of hydrogen ashore and link to the onshore hydrogen network, will be made by the green hydrogen project Ten noorden van de Waddeneilanden.
Pilot project
The 500 MW offshore green hydrogen project will be preceded by a smaller trial project with an electrolysis capacity of 50 MW to 100 MW, according to the Dutch government. The technology will be evaluated and modified during the pilot to ensure that the large-scale project is successfully executed.
The Netherlands wants to be one of Europe’s leading green hydrogen hubs because to its extensive gas network and import facilities. The government wants to achieve a 4 GW electrolysis capacity by 2030.
