Shell Building Dutch Green Hydrogen Plant

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Construction is starting on Europe's largest green hydrogen plant in the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, after oil major Shell Plc (NYSE:SHEL) (London, England) approved a final investment decision.

The Holland Hydrogen I project will cost roughly 200 million euro (US$200 million) and will be Europe's largest renewable hydrogen plant once operational in 2025. It will boast a 200-megawatt (MW) electrolyser that will be located on the Tweede Maasvlakte area of the port and will produce up to 60,000 kilograms of renewable hydrogen per day. The plant will be powered by the 759-MW Hollandse Kust North offshore windfarm, which is partly owned by Shell. In January, Industrial Info reported that Shell had contracted Thyssenkrupp (Essen) to build the plant, using 20-MW alkaline water electrolysis modules developed by Thyssenkrupp's Uhde Chlorine Engineers unit. For additional information, see January 19, 2022, article--Thyssenkrupp to Build Shell's Green Hydrogen Plant in Netherlands.

The renewable hydrogen produced will supply the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam, formerly known as the Pernis refinery, by way of the HyTransPort pipeline, where it will replace some of the grey hydrogen currently in use. This will partially decarbonise the facility's production of energy products like petrol and diesel and jet fuel. Last year the company made a final investment decision to build an 820,000-tonne-per-year biofuels facility at the facility which, when completed, will be among the biggest in Europe for the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel made from waste.

Marjan van Loon, director of Shell Netherlands, told media that she expects a series of new investments in the hydrogen sector going forward: "This is an important milestone. This factory is already 20 times larger than the factory we have in Germany and we want to continue after this, scaling up in the Eemshaven in Groningen with a factory that should again be 20 times larger than the one in Rotterdam."

"Holland Hydrogen I demonstrates how new energy solutions can work together to meet society's need for cleaner energy," said Anna Mascolo, executive vice president, Emerging Energy Solutions at Shell. "It is also another example of Shell's own efforts and commitment to become a net-zero emissions business by 2050. Renewable hydrogen will play a pivotal role in the energy system of the future and this project is an important step in helping hydrogen fulfill that potential."

As part of the company's Powering Progress strategy, Shell is transforming its refineries (which numbered 14 in October 2020) into five energy and chemicals parks. Shell aims to reduce its production of traditional fuels by 55% by 2030 and provide more low-carbon fuels such as biofuels for road transport and aviation, and hydrogen.

Last week, Industrial Info reported that the Dutch government has revealed plans to invest 750 million euro (US$784 million) to develop a national hydrogen transportation network. Permission for construction has been granted to state-owned Gasunie (Groningen, Netherlands), which owns and operates the Dutch and north German high-pressure gas transmission systems. Approximately 85% of the national network will consist of recycled natural gas pipelines. For additional information, see July 11, 2022, article--Netherlands Building National Hydrogen Network.

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