North Holland North has an ideal and unique starting position to play a leading role in the new hydrogen economy. With the proximity of large wind farms in the North Sea, an existing infrastructure of gas pipelines and our knowledge of production, storage, processing and transport of energy, we are putting North Holland North on the map as an important hydrogen region of the Netherlands.
Climate change is a major and urgent problem. In order to limit global warming as much as possible, we must rapidly replace fossil fuels with sustainable alternatives. Wind and solar energy are expected to make the largest contribution to the EU's climate objectives. The amount of sustainable energy generated from the North Sea will reach 21 gigawatts within ten years, equal to approximately three-quarters of current electricity consumption. The government is continuing to work on realising approximately 50 gigawatts in 2040 and 70 gigawatts in 2050.
Also read: Cabinet focuses on strong growth in wind power and hydrogen production at sea.
With the further growth of offshore wind energy after 2030, the government expects that in addition to electricity, hydrogen will also be produced in the North Sea. After 2030, offshore wind energy will largely come from larger areas further offshore. The government will therefore work with a 'hub-based' approach when rolling out offshore wind energy, in which an integral assessment is made for these larger areas of the form (electrons or molecules) in which the generated energy can best be brought ashore.
Also read: Energy islands for climate and energy ambitions of North Sea countries
With offshore wind energy, the transition to an energy supply without CO2 emissions is possible. The large wind farms off the Dutch coast do not only produce electricity. In addition, the government is also planning large-scale hydrogen production in the North Sea. The new wind farms will mainly be located in more distant areas of the North Sea. The plan is to connect them to each other via large energy hubs at sea. In this way, not all wind farms need to be connected separately to the electricity grid on land, but more wind farms can be connected to the energy hub.
By connecting wind farms and producing hydrogen at sea at the energy hubs, fewer electricity cables are needed to bring the energy to land. This ensures lower costs, while also requiring less space on the coast. Connections with other North Sea countries (Denmark, Germany, Belgium) can also be made via the hubs. In this way, we are building a robust energy system for all countries.
North Holland North is ideally positioned to play a pioneering role in the new hydrogen economy. The unique advantages of the region:
To make this vision of the future a reality, government, industry and knowledge institutes in North Holland North are working together. It is not without reason that hydrogen is a spearhead in the Regional Deal Maritime Cluster Kop van Noord-HollandBy setting that dot on the horizon together and working together to achieve it, various initiatives have already been created. The goal is the formation of integral hydrogen chains, or chains of hydrogen production, storage, distribution and use.
Click here for an overview of projects in North Holland North.
The combination of a favourable geographical location in relation to the large wind farms, the presence of an existing gas infrastructure, a strongly developed knowledge infrastructure and sufficient space for growth of the hydrogen economy, provides North Holland North with an excellent starting position to develop into one of the important hydrogen regions in North-Western Europe in the coming years.
The main driver of the hydrogen economy in the North Holland North region is the enormous capacity of offshore wind. In our vision of the future, the energy from wind farms that will be located far out at sea will be converted to a substantial extent into green hydrogen. The potential for production and distribution of hydrogen in North Holland North is great, much greater than the hydrogen demand that we expect in the region. The role that we see for the region is therefore that of a hydrogen hub; one of the major distribution points of hydrogen for the (inter)national market.
This hydrogen arrives at Den Helder via largely existing gas pipelines. From here it goes via the direct connection to the hydrogen backbone to the large industrial clusters in the Netherlands and abroad. A good picture of the central position of Den Helder in the European hydrogen backbone can be found on this interactive card of the European Hydrogen Backbone (EHB) initiative.
Den Helder is already an important location for the landing of natural gas. More than 90% of North Sea gas comes ashore here via three natural gas pipelines. These existing pipelines can be used for the transport of hydrogen and CO2. The official certification for reuse of the NOGAT pipeline was issued in 2022 (read here). Other facilities are also reusable. For example, the NAM gas treatment station can be used for the landing, production and distribution of hydrogen.
Based on the plans for the production of blue hydrogen and the subsequent future roll-out of offshore wind – including the associated conversion of wind energy to hydrogen – New Energy Coalition has calculated the amount of hydrogen that will be supplied via Den Helder. Initially, this will involve 0.2 Mton of low-carbon (blue) hydrogen in the period 2028 to 2031. However, as the number of offshore wind farms expands, the supply of green hydrogen will increase sharply in the years thereafter; from 1.3 Mton in 2041 to 3.22 to 3.82 Mton in 2050.
North Holland North is also an ideal base for a logistics service sector, which is necessary for the construction and maintenance of wind farms and hydrogen infrastructure. With decades of experience in oil and gas extraction in the North Sea, Den Helder is ideally placed to fulfil the role of logistics service hub for sustainable energy at sea. In addition, Den Helder has a large heliport, specialised in air transport for the offshore energy industry. The presence of a deep-sea port and an airport offer a unique combination of possibilities.
Of essential importance is the construction of the national hydrogen backbone, which is expected to be operational in 2027. The H2Gateway project can start importing hydrogen from Q1 2028. This main network will connect industries, hydrogen storage facilities, production locations and also the countries surrounding us. Den Helder will have a direct connection to this national hydrogen network and will thus gain access to a huge sales market.
Read more about the H2Backbone here.
The transition to a hydrogen economy is accompanied by the need to store hydrogen for a longer period of time. Various solutions are available for this. Storage in underground salt caverns is a safe, efficient and reliable way to store hydrogen. However, it is still very much the question whether the capacity in the Netherlands is sufficient for future storage needs. An alternative is the storage of hydrogen in empty gas fields. North Holland North is a relatively short distance from empty gas fields at sea and plays an important role in the storage of hydrogen.
Underground hydrogen storage at sea is technically a feasible and relevant option to include in the planning and construction of the future energy system, according to a study by Energy Management Netherlands (EBN) and TNOÂ on the feasibility of underground hydrogen storage at sea.
The backbone connects production and distribution with large industrial clusters. Within North Holland there is a large potential sales market in the form of the North Sea Canal Area (NZKG). Developments at Tata Steel and Schiphol ensure that there is a large demand for hydrogen here, which NHN can (partially) supply. The hydrogen backbone also connects NHN with industrial clusters such as Chemelot and the Ruhr area and in the long term also with other parts of Europe.
In order to achieve a climate-neutral economy by 2050, it is necessary to replace fossil fuels with hydrogen as quickly as possible and on a large scale. The ultimate goal is to use green hydrogen, which is produced with wind and solar energy. Although the Netherlands is fully committed to building offshore wind farms, the capacity is insufficient in the short term to meet industrial demand.
The production of low-carbon hydrogen (where CO2 is captured and stored in empty gas fields at sea) offers a solution. H2Gateway is an initiative for the construction of a factory for the annual production of 0.2 Mton hydrogen to supply large industrial areas in the Netherlands and across the border with hydrogen. Den Helder is an interesting location for this factory, partly because of the hydrogen backbone and its location in relation to CO2 storage capacity at sea.
Read more about H2Gateway here
Because low-carbon hydrogen can be competitive with fossil fuels well before 2030, part of the industry can already make the switch in the short term. In this sense, blue hydrogen can be seen as a transition fuel on the way to a fully green hydrogen market. If we want to make progress with the energy transition, we must already start working on setting up the hydrogen infrastructure.
