Hydrogen pipeline crucial to industrial energy transition in port of Rotterdam

There is no shortage of potential hydrogen producers and customers. EU regulations require industry to gradually decarbonise. There are various ways they can do that, such as by electrifying manufacturing processes, capturing and storing the CO₂ they emit, or by switching to hydrogen, which is were this pipeline comes in.

But there is still work to be done. ‘Together with Hynetwork, we are conducting a design study about connecting the hydrogen plant to the pipeline.’

Before making the final investment decision, Uniper wants to be sure that there will be customers for their green hydrogen, so they can purchase green electricity to power the electrolyser. And they also need certainty on access to an affordable connection to the power grid and hydrogen network. Getting all of that done is keeping Overgaag and his hydrogen team busy each and every day. ‘By the second half of 2026, we’ll be ready to make a decision. If it’s a go, we can start building in 2027 and we will put the hydrogen plant into operation in 2030.’

Shell is already further along in the construction of its 200-megawatt electrolyser in the first ‘conversion park’ at the Maasvlakte industrial area, which has now been connected to the first part of the hydrogen network. The green hydrogen Shell will be producing will be transported through Hynetwork’s pipeline to Shell’s own refinery in Pernis. Instead of grey hydrogen, which is made from natural gas, Shell will use green hydrogen to refine part of their crude oil to cut the Pernis refinery’s carbon emissions. Shell both produces and consumes green hydrogen.

Air Liquide is also building a 200-megawatt electrolyser in the conversion park, which will further increase the total green hydrogen production capacity at Maasvlakte. Air Liquide has its own hydrogen pipeline, which also extends to the industrial area near the port of Antwerp.

Uniper is busy finding customers for its green hydrogen in Rotterdam. ‘We're in talks with numerous parties to sell them our molecules,’ says Overgaag. ‘Hynetwork’s pipeline is vitally important to Uniper. It’s important for future hydrogen customers to contact Hynetwork in time to get connected. After all, it’s essential for us to actually be able to deliver hydrogen to our customers.’

There is great demand for hydrogen in Rotterdam. ‘The port of Rotterdam is home to a total of 3,000 companies, of which 20 are large-scale hydrogen users,’ says Stoelinga, describing the port area. These 20 major companies, which include refineries, artificial fertiliser plants and chemical companies, currently consume around 500,000 tonnes of hydrogen per year.

Almost all the hydrogen currently consumed by industry in Rotterdam is grey and therefore responsible for considerable carbon emissions. Replacing grey hydrogen is a logical step in industrial decarbonisation. ‘When it comes to the production of artificial fertiliser, I can imagine us switching to importing green ammonia in the long term,’ says Stoelinga. Produced using hydrogen, ammonia is a key feedstock for artificial fertiliser.

Green hydrogen is also being touted as an alternative to natural gas in industrial processes. ‘However, the price difference is currently still too great,’ Stoelinga points out. This is why he expects blue hydrogen, which is made from natural gas with carbon capture and storage, has the potential to be an important interim solution over the coming years. The carbon storage part will be covered by the Porthos project, storing CO₂ in empty gas fields under the North Sea bed. The Porthos CO₂ pipeline, which is being built for that, runs partly parallel to the hydrogen pipeline.

The new pipeline section is the first stretch of what is set to become a vast, international hydrogen network. The hydrogen pipeline was built by Gasunie subsidiary Hynetwork. This section of the network will initially cater solely to Rotterdam’s port area. Companies can be connected to it through branches, as soon as they are ready to actually start using or producing sustainable hydrogen. The next phase will see the industrial clusters in the Netherlands being interconnected under Hynetwork’s phased roll-out plan, with the final cluster being connected ‘no later than in 2033’. The network will also be extended into Germany and Belgium, connecting industrial centres there as part of the Delta Rhine Corridor.

International connections are crucial for Uniper as well, albeit not until after 2032. ‘Since it’s not realistic to assume that we will be exporting large volumes of green hydrogen to Germany before 2030, we’re focusing purely on Rotterdam for this first phase,’ says Overgaag. ‘In Rotterdam itself, there’s already extensive potential demand. The challenge now is to create a market.’

Legislation is a key factor in this respect, both on an EU and a domestic level. Overgaag: ‘As soon as all the regulations are clear and stable, we will see additional and guaranteed demand arise,’ he says. ‘Then we can enter into long-term contracts.’

‘After all, companies will not sign long-term deals if they don’t know exactly what obligations and preconditions they will be subject to beyond 2030.’ According to Overgaag, clarity on that front will considerably accelerate the market.

What is at least as important as having the hydrogen infrastructure in place is the availability of sustainable electricity. You need a lot of power to run an electrolyser with a capacity of hundreds of megawatts. Waiting times for a grid connection and uncertainty over future network tariffs are a risk in this respect. ‘As long as we can’t be sure that we will be connected to the grid, we will not make a final decision on whether to invest or not,’ says Overgaag.

At the same time, Uniper has identified opportunities to add value to the energy system. Electrolysers can be operated flexibly and produce hydrogen precisely when there is ample supply of offshore wind power. Hydrogen plants can be used to level off peak demand on the power grid. ‘However, we need to adopt an integrated perspective of the system for that,’ says Overgaag. ‘At present, electricity and molecules are still two separate worlds.’

For the Port of Rotterdam Authority, the hydrogen pipeline fits into a broader strategy of positioning the port as a European energy and feedstock hub. Besides production, Rotterdam is focusing specifically on importing hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, such as ammonia, preparing terminals to receive, store and redistribute these import flows.

Given that working together on this with other ports and industrial areas is key, Rotterdam is partnering with ports such as Antwerp in Belgium and Duisburg in Germany to pool supply and demand and to roll out infrastructure as efficiently as possible. ‘We compete with each other on many fronts,’ says Stoelinga, ‘but for this kind of infrastructure you have to work together, otherwise it simply won’t get off the ground.’

The first hydrogen that will be flowing through the new pipeline will be Shell’s. After that, the network can be used by more producers and customers, so rather than being the end point, the hydrogen pipeline signifies a new beginning.