Part of the massive offshore wind capacity being built in the Netherlands may be available for the production of green hydrogen to be used by industry, Manon van Beek, chief executive of Dutch-German grid operator TenneT said, but added she doesn’t expect a ‘large-scale’ usage of H2 still this decade.
The Dutch cabinet earlier this year had approved a tendering schedule to match the country’s increased target to reach 21GW of offshore wind capacity by 2031, which is double the volume the Netherlands had planned earlier.
“The energy system of the future will need electrons and molecules. The 21GW capacity of offshore wind mainly comes ashore near large industrial clusters such as Eemshaven, Maasvlakte and Borssele. The electricity will have to be used there,” van Beek told the Dutch renewable energy association NVDE in an interview.
“Industry can either become more sustainable by electrifying processes, or by replacing fossil fuels with hydrogen.
“We already see many initiatives to develop hydrogen as quickly as possible, but a lot still needs to be done to scale up electrolysers. We therefore do not expect the large-scale application of hydrogen until after 2030.”
The Netherlands are home to some of the world’s largest offshore wind-to-hydrogen projects, among them the Shell-led NortH2 plan to use 10GW of North Sea wind power to exclusively produce green hydrogen, or a plan led by BP for a 250MW offshore wind-powered green H2 facility in the port of Rotterdam.
