(The Hague / Netherlands) – The Netherlands wants to produce hydrogen offshore on a large scale. The government names the area “Ten noorden van de Waddeneilanden” as the location. There, about 56 kilometers off the coast of the province of Groningen, a wind farm is to be built whose output will power electrolyzers with an output of 500 megawatts (MW). However, as things stand, commissioning is not planned until “around 2031”.
The areas designated for offshore wind power by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. Top right: the “Ten noorden van de Waddeneilanden Wind Farm Zone”. © RVO
“The area was chosen because a wind farm for electricity generation was already planned here, an existing natural gas pipeline could potentially be reused for transport and there is good connection to the onshore hydrogen network,” explained Climate and Energy Minister Rob Jetten.
The “Ten noorden van de Waddeneilanden Wind Farm Zone” (TNWWFZ) has been on the Dutch government’s agenda for more than a year. The total area is around 120 square kilometers with potential for offshore wind farms with an output of 700 megawatts. A call for tenders was originally planned for 2022, but then the Ministry of Economic Affairs decided that further preliminary investigations were necessary.
Everyone involved wants to gain experience
According to information, there is a lot of support for the hydrogen project in the Groningen region. “In this way, the government, the companies involved and the network operators are gaining valuable experience with this new technology, which will play an important role in the energy system of the future.” The Netherlands wants to install an electrolysis capacity of four gigawatts by 2030.
The area has already been designated as a “preferred location” so that preparations can “begin quickly and we can give the industry certainty for investment plans,” it said in a statement. Before the official tender, the ministry will clarify “a number of important questions” together with the Groningen region and stakeholders. “This includes the landing of the pipeline that will bring the hydrogen from the wind farm to land and the question of how hydrogen production can be carried out safely and in an environmentally friendly manner,” said the minister.
Intermediate step: small project up to 100 MW
The project would be the first to be connected to Gasunie's offshore hydrogen transport network. As an interim step, work is being carried out on a smaller pilot project with an electrolysis output of around 50 to 100 megawatts. A location will be selected this year. The experience gained would later be scaled up to 500 megawatts. The ministry did not give a time frame or date for the start of tendering and construction.
Photos
Planning areas for wind farms off the Dutch coast. © Netherlands Enterprise Agency (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland, RVO) / Mischa Keijser
