The Dutch State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Climate Policy revealed plans for a hydrogen infrastructure.
Gasunie will be in charge of expanding the hydrogen transmission network, for example by repurposing existing natural gas pipelines. Of course, this is good news for NortH2, because we rely on these pipelines to transport the hydrogen we produce.
‘All industrial regions will have access to hydrogen infrastructure very soon,’ says Gasunie CEO Han Fennema. As a result, the Dutch economy is off to a good start. The first sections of the transmission network are being built in places like Rotterdam and Groningen, where hydrogen activities have advanced the most.’ The infrastructure within regional industrial clusters is the first step in making existing natural gas pipelines suitable for hydrogen transmission. Gasunie will connect these pipelines to each other, to storage facilities, and to other countries once that is completed. ‘The interconnected national infrastructure will connect not only our ports and industrial clusters to each other and to hydrogen storage facilities, but also to our neighboring countries, making the Netherlands the global hydrogen market’s gateway to Europe,’ says Fennema.
Naturally, NorthH2 is ecstatic about the news. ‘The hydrogen backbone connects and makes accessible all of the major industrial clusters,’ says Erik Mobach (NortH2 Project Leader). That is unquestionably good news. It is also critical for NortH2 that this all gain traction quickly and that the government sends a signal that the hydrogen economy is being scaled up.’
