Delta Rhine Corridor West

Industry in the Netherlands is responsible for a large part of the national carbon emissions. To reduce these emissions industrial companies need a sustainable gas, like (green) hydrogen for example. Besides taking measures to cut CO₂ emissions, CO₂ is also being captured and stored so that these emissions do not end up in the atmosphere. This helps prevent further climate change.

Hydrogen

The hydrogen pipeline in DRC West is being installed between Rotterdam and Boxtel. On its way it passes Moerdijk, where it connects to the hydrogen network in the south-western region of the Netherlands, which runs through the provinces of Noord-Brabant and Zeeland to the Belgian border. At Boxtel it connects with the hydrogen network in the eastern region of the Netherlands, which also creates a connection to Germany and further south to the Dutch province of Limburg.

CO₂

The CO₂ pipeline is also being installed between Rotterdam (Maasvlakte industrial area) and Boxtel. And it also passes through Moerdijk, where it can connect to the Delta Schelde Co₂nnection CO₂ transport pipeline that continues southward to the Belgian border. 

It is expected that the pipelines for hydrogen and CO₂ will be installed in the DRC West section of the corridor between 2031 and 2032.

DRC East

The DRC West section of the corridor connects to the DRC East section. The DRC East project only concerns building a CO₂ pipeline from Boxtel to the German border at Venlo, which will also create a connection between the Netherlands and Germany. A separate project procedure will be initiated for the DRC East project. This pipeline from Boxtel to Venlo is expected to be installed in 2032 and 2033.

DRC West and DRC East are part of the Delta Rhine Corridor that is currently under development. This corridor, which will accommodate a cluster of pipelines and cables, is planned to run between Rotterdam and Moerdijk and from there to the Dutch province of Limburg and further into Germany.

We are still looking into exactly where the DRC pipelines will be located. What is clear, however, is that in the Netherlands the starting point is the ‘PEH’ corridor, the area the Dutch government has reserved for pipelines under its Programma Energiehoofdstructuur [Main Energy Structure Programme]. This corridor runs from the port area in Rotterdam to Moerdijk and from there to the province of Limburg. Moerdijk naar Limburg. To see where this corridor is located, check the Interests Map.

You can read more about the Main Energy Structure Programme on the website of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).

The project procedure

Some land-use projects are not only big but also particularly important – of national importance in fact. This also applies to DRC West. To make these types of projects possible, decisions on land use must be made and permits need to be granted. A special procedure is used for this: the Project Procedure under the Dutch Environment and Planning Act. The aim of this procedure is to speed up decisions for large energy projects without compromising the due diligence of decision-making and opportunities for residents to express their opinions. 

The first milestone: project procedure underway

On Friday 5 September 2025, the exploratory phase of DRC West began with the publication of the following documents:

• Notification of Intention / Proposal for Participation: this document describes the plans
• Participation Plan: this outlines how the local community will be engaged in the procedure for the development of DRC West
• Memorandum on the scope and level of detail: this is the research plan for the environmental impact assessment to be prepared later. This plan outlines which environmental impacts will be assessed and how they will be conducted. This helps ensure that careful consideration can be given when deciding on the exact route of the corridor.

If you’d like to stay in the know on the commercial (national and international) developments concerning the hydrogen network and the CO₂ networks in the DRC and the Delta Schelde Co₂nnection, you can sign up for the various newsletters on the Delta Rhine Corridor page.

For any queries, please write to drc@gasunie.nl or contact our project team: