The Province of North Holland has joined forces with the Provinces of Zeeland, Groningen, Friesland, Drenthe and South Holland to grow as Dutch regions into one of the most important hydrogen hotspots in the world. Dutch regions are pioneers in the field of hydrogen and therefore play a crucial role in its future.
How can the Dutch regions develop into one of the most important hydrogen hotspots in the world? Europe must become the world's first climate-neutral continent by 2050 and the provinces of Zeeland, Groningen, Friesland, Drenthe, North Holland and South Holland can make an important contribution as a hydrogen corridor to the North Sea. That is why they recently presented a joint position paper to MEP Tom Berendsen.
In the paper, the provinces emphasize the importance of a hydrogen corridor on the North Sea, which could cover 12,000 kilometers of pipelines in 2030. A large part of the existing infrastructure can be used for the transport of hydrogen. A corridor of this size is essential to realize the European objectives of the REPowerEU plan for green energy. For example, within REPowerEU the Commission wants to double the number of hydrogen regions and the North Sea area has been designated as one of the three important import corridors for hydrogen.
The provinces take the position that they have a clear responsibility in the further development of this corridor and want to take on this role. They therefore ask the European institutions to closely involve them and neighbouring regions in Belgium and Germany in the further development of the EU hydrogen policy and the European green hydrogen economy.
In addition, the provinces signal that the demand for hydrogen is greater than the production capacity. The import of hydrogen is therefore becoming increasingly important for achieving the European objectives and the provinces are happy to be involved in this process. The ports of Eemshaven, Delfzijl, Den Helder, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and North Sea Port can be the start of the energy import and transport corridor.
