(Eemshaven / Netherlands) – Energy company RWE AG will receive €551 million in funding for its 100-megawatt electrolysis project. The funds were approved by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), an agency under the Ministry of Economic Affairs that supports sustainable and innovative projects in the country.
The Oranje Wind wind farm is located in the North Sea, approximately 53 kilometers off the coast of IJmuiden in the province of North Holland. The project is scheduled to be fully operational in early 2028, it was announced just over a year ago. The annual yield is forecast at three terawatt hours. © RWE
The project is located near the Magnum power plant in Eemshaven (Groningen) on the Dutch North Sea coast. RWE plans to operate the electrolyzer with green electricity from the 795-megawatt "Oranje Wind" offshore wind farm, which the company is currently building together with Total Energies SE. According to a previous announcement, the French energy group intends to use its stake in Oranje Wind for electrolyzers with a capacity of 350 megawatts.
The construction and environmental permits for the Oranje Wind electrolyzer have been in place since October 2024 (as previously reported) . The next phase will involve completing the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) study, selecting construction partners, and ultimately securing the purchase of the hydrogen. Only after these steps will the final investment decision be made, according to the company.
Funding also for 50 MW electrolyzer
RWE is also working on a 50-megawatt electrolyzer near the port area. RWE has also received funding for this project. The funds come from the recently completed second round of the funding program for large-scale hydrogen production using electrolyzers (OWE). As reported, a total of around one billion euros was available for eleven interested parties, of which only 700 million euros will be paid out because some projects proved unfeasible. The OWE funding reduces the cost gap ("unprofitable top") between the production of green hydrogen and fossil hydrogen for companies. The electricity for generating the green hydrogen from this plant will come from RWE's 260-megawatt Westereems onshore wind farm, located about five kilometers from the Eemshaven power plant site.
RWE acquired the Magnum gas-fired power plant from Vattenfall in 2022. It is prepared for the use of hydrogen and can be fully converted to the fuel. © Vattenfall SE
The company laid the foundation stone for its Eemshaven projects in 2022. At that time, the German company acquired the "Magnum" gas-fired power plant from the Swedish state-owned energy company Vattenfall SE for 500 million euros. The plant, in operation since 2013, has an installed capacity of 1,4 gigawatts. It is prepared for the use of hydrogen and can be technically converted so that the turbines can be operated with up to 30 percent of the energy source. Furthermore, there is the possibility of converting the gas-fired power plant entirely to hydrogen as the sole fuel by the end of the decade.
Eemshaven as a hydrogen hub
However, Vattenfall hasn't left Eemshaven with the sale. At the end of August this year, the company announced the signing of a contract with the offshore logistics company EMS Maritime Offshore BV (EMO) for the use of an area there as an "Operation & Maintenance Base," which will allow for the berthment of service operation vessels (SOVs) and crew transfer vessels (CTVs) for the "Nordlicht 1" and "Nordlicht 2" wind farms. "The new operating base in Eemshaven is an important building block for commissioning Nordlicht efficiently and in a climate-friendly manner thanks to the shorter startup times," says Vattenfall Project Manager Cyril Moss.
Vattenfall is commissioning offshore logistics company EMO to build its future Operation & Maintenance Base, along with berths for service vessels and personnel carriers, for the Nordlicht 1 and Nordlicht 2 wind farms on the Eemshaven site. © Vattenfall SE
EMO, a subsidiary of Emden-based Ems Maritime Offshore GmbH, plans to begin construction of the operational buildings as early as this year. The project includes indoor storage and workshop areas, outdoor storage, and office space. Additional features include photovoltaic systems and heat pumps. Vattenfall will lease the properties long-term, and completion is planned for October 2026. Construction work on the "Nordlicht 1" sub-project is scheduled to begin in 2026, and the commissioning of the wind farm's first turbines could occur in fall 2027. The wind farm is expected to be fully operational in 2028.
This makes Eemshaven, after Rotterdam, the second most important hub on the Dutch coast for offshore activities, hydrogen, and its derivatives. In addition to RWE and Vattenfall, the Danish energy group Ørsted and the German company EnBW AG are also active there, and they also use the site as a base for their offshore wind farms.
Photo above
Graphic representation of RWE's planned 100 MW electrolyzer in Eemshaven, the Netherlands. The government is supporting the project with €551 million, but the investment decision has not yet been made. © RWE
