Minister Wiebes gives the go-ahead for construction of Zuidbroek nitrogen plant

In the afternoon of Monday 9 March, Minister Eric Wiebes of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy gave the go-ahead for the construction of the nitrogen plant near Zuidbroek. This new plant is a key element in the government’s plans to accelerate the phase-out of gas extraction, and will be in use from mid-2022 onwards. The minister gave the green light together with Gasunie’s CEO Han Fennema, King’s Commissioner in the province of Groningen René Paas, Midden-Groningen Mayor Adriaan Hoogendoorn and representatives of the contractors Air Products and Visser & Smit Hanab/A. Hak Leidingbouw.

The plant will eliminate the need for gas extraction in Groningen as early as 2022. In a nitrogen plant, nitrogen is taken from the air and mixed with high-calorific gas from abroad. This produces gas with the same composition as Groningen gas, making it suitable for use in domestic households and by companies. When it is put into operation in mid-2022, the Zuidbroek plant will enable a reduction in the amount of Groningen gas extracted of around 7 billion cubic metres per year.

In 2018, the government decided to accelerate the phase-out of gas extraction in Groningen towards zero over the coming years. To reduce dependency on Groningen gas, the Netherlands is importing more gas from abroad, but this gas has a different composition. Gasunie Transport Services is therefore building a new nitrogen plant near Zuidbroek in the province of Groningen, next to the existing nitrogen plant. GTS increased the capacity of its nitrogen mixing facility in Wieringermeer in late 2019, enabling a reduction of 5 billion m³ in Groningen gas production.

‘We are making every possible effort to help bring gas extraction in Groningen to an end more quickly,’ explains Han Fennema, Gasunie’s CEO. ‘This plant is a necessary measure that will eliminate the need for gas from the Groningen field in order to guarantee security of supply from 2022 onwards.’

Air Products Executive Vice President, Dr. Samir Serhan, said: 'Building on the legacy of our relationship with Gasunie, we are proud to have been selected as the technology partner on a project of such strategic importance. Air Products expertise enables us to provide the greatest value for our customer’s from the cryogenic air separation process, in terms of safety, reliability and high efficiency. This will be critical as we construct these nitrogen generation plants, which are needed to condition imported natural gas for commercial and consumer applications in the Netherlands.'  

The American company Air Products will be constructing the nitrogen plant near Zuidbroek. Set on a site of around 12 hectares, the plant will have a capacity of 180,000m³ of nitrogen per hour, which is 10 times more than the existing nitrogen plant in Zuidbroek. The contract for the nitrogen mixing station has been awarded to a joint venture between Visser & Smit Hanab and A. Hak Leidingbouw.