The Netherlands – Eneco has joined the NortH2 green hydrogen consortium as an investor.
Green hydrogen is a critical component of Eneco’s One Planet Plan, which aims to achieve climate neutrality for Eneco and its customers by 2035. Natural gas will be phased out at customers and in electricity and heat production as part of the plan. Along with NortH2, Eneco intends to invest more in green hydrogen. NortH2 will make hydrogen available in the Netherlands on a large scale in the future.
Integrated hydrogen chain
NortH2 is expected to provide Eneco with numerous opportunities to improve the sustainability of its production and supply to industrial customers. NortH2 aims to contribute significantly to the Dutch and European climate goals by rapidly developing an integrated hydrogen chain that includes offshore wind energy, green hydrogen production, and storage. Hydrogen will be produced for difficult-to-electrify industrial sectors or for industries where hydrogen is a required raw material. By 2030, NortH2 hopes to have up to 4GW of electrolyzers and corresponding offshore wind capacity in place. On a project-by-project basis, this will save 1.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. Green hydrogen can reduce CO2 emissions by 2.9 to 3.6 megaton per year, depending on the application. NortH2 will continue to expand, with the goal of producing 1 million tons of green hydrogen annually by 2040.
NortH2 recently completed the second phase of its feasibility study, demonstrating that an integrated approach — from offshore wind farms to production, storage, and distribution to eventual green hydrogen use — is technically and economically feasible. Another requirement is that the government develops an appropriate policy framework.
Project partners
NortH2, which consists of Shell, Equinor, RWE, and Gasunie with Groningen Seaports as support partners during the current study phase, has now been joined by Eneco. Shell, Equinor, RWE, and Eneco intend to continue working together after the study phase, with the help of Groningen Seaports, to produce a large-scale supply of green hydrogen for industry.
NortH2 has also formed a partnership with OCI N.V. for the integrated development of 1GW of green ammonia and green methanol value chains based on NortH2’s green hydrogen.
