The Netherlands climate neutral in 2050. On the way to achieving this ambitious goal, hydrogen will make an important contribution. What role can the hydrogen region of North Holland play in this? This question was central during the hydrogen conference that Ontwikkelingsbedrijf Noord-Holland Noord (NHN) organised during Sail Den Helder.
More than 250 visitors were introduced to regional developments in the field of hydrogen on this day, with the highlight being the awarding of the Hydrogen Valley status to North Holland. This status is a European award for regions that make a distinctive effort to develop an energy system based on sustainable hydrogen. Eighty hydrogen regions have now been identified worldwide, most of which are in Europe. With the H2Valley status, North Holland will have better access to knowledge and financing from Europe, which can accelerate the process of making the energy supply more sustainable.
After a warm welcome from alderman Peter van Diepen (sustainability & energy transition), minister Rob Jetten addressed the visitors by means of a video message. “The cabinet wants to help further develop the production and use of sustainable hydrogen. Your region offers several starting points for this: for the production and supply of sustainable hydrogen in Den Helder, for import via the seaports and application of hydrogen in the North Sea Canal area. This makes this Hydrogen Valley represent the entire chain. I am curious to see how North Holland can contribute to the Dutch and European ambitions in the field of hydrogen.”
Gijs Postma of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate then took the audience through the enormous task that lies behind the energy transition. He presented an overview of various subsidy flows and discussed the possibility of importing hydrogen. “We want to have these import flows up and running by 2030, where possible together with neighbouring countries.”
Green hydrogen is preferred, but this will be combined with blue hydrogen, with the CO2 released during production being stored underground. “By combining green and blue hydrogen, we are helping to advance the development and accelerate the process.”
Rene Peters (TNO) discussed the role and importance of the North Sea in the energy transition in detail in his presentation. He presented an integrated approach with a combination of CO2 storage, energy islands and offshore platforms. Subsequently, infrastructure is needed to bring the generated energy to land. Existing (natural gas) pipelines can be used in part for this, which connect to the European gas pipeline network on land, the so-called 'H2 Backbone'.
Peters made a passionate plea for the expansion of this infrastructure, whereby energy hubs are developed and large wind farms on land and at sea are connected. “An integral vision is needed from the North Sea countries to arrive at an optimal infrastructure that matches the ambitions.”
The highlight was the presentation of the Hydrogen Valley status. This honorable task was assigned to Matthijs Soede, senior policy advisor at the European Commission and director of the Clean Hydrogen Mission. In his introductory speech,the policy advisor spoke words of appreciation about the efforts of the province of North Holland to achieve the climate goals. “This region has gone from 'water country' to 'hydrogen country' and is already succeeding in extracting a large amount of green energy from the sea. North Holland is a region that knows how to tackle things and has both feet on the ground.”
Then, deputy Edward Stigter of the province of North Holland was called to the podium to receive the certificate. Soede urged Stigter to seek cooperation with other stakeholders in order to realize the hydrogen transition. "And don't forget the knowledge parties and education."
The Hydrogen Valley status for North Holland was achieved thanks to intensive collaboration between the North Sea Bald Area (NZKG) and the Development Company North Holland North, with support from the New Energy Coalition. In a joint presentation, Esther Zijl (ONHN) and Ingrid Post (NZKG) took the audience along a selection of more than 30 hydrogen projects. One of the projects is Duwaal in the Wieringermeer. This involves a windmill that produces hydrogen and already supplies it to two filling stations for freight traffic.
A recent development is the Fieldlab Hydrogen in Agri that starts this month and in which knowledge and experience are shared and pilots are carried out with the production, storage and use of hydrogen in the agricultural business. Another good example is the greening of steel production at Tata Steel and the production of sustainable fuels in the port of Amsterdam.
After a short break, chairwoman Nienke Homan led two panel discussions. The first was about reusing existing natural gas pipelines for transporting hydrogen. The conclusion was that reusing is a prerequisite for achieving the desired CO2 reduction.
Simeon Molenaar (NAM) took the audience along in a large-scale project: the proposed construction of H2Gateway. This factory should produce 400 kilotons of blue hydrogen per year. A solution to make the transition as long as there is not enough green hydrogen available, the panel concluded. “H2Gateway is then an important driving force behind the energy transition.”
You can watch the second part of the conference, including the Hydrogen Valley status presentation and the panel discussions, via the livestream platform NHNEXT. Click here to watch the stream.
Text: Monique Ooms
Photography: Peter van Aalst and own photos
