Kickstarting the green hydrogen economy

In early 2020, a consortium made up of Gasunie, Groningen Seaports and Shell Nederland announced the start of what might be Europe’s most ambitious wind-to-hydrogen project, NortH2. Meanwhile, Norway’s Equinor and Germany’s RWE have also joined the project.

The joint objective is to set up large-scale green hydrogen production using offshore wind power. As much as 4 gigawatts by 2030, in fact, which will fulfil one of the goals set by the Dutch Climate Agreement. But the ambition goes further than that. NortH2 wants to upscale to more than 10 gigawatts by 2040. By then, green hydrogen output, which will initially be produced in Eemshaven and later possibly offshore as well, will total around 1,000,000 metric tons on an annual basis, cutting carbon emissions by over eight to ten megatons a year. Backed by the Groningen provincial authority, NortH2 does not rule out other serious partners joining the project further down the line.