Ørsted has announced its plans for one of the world’s largest hydrogen production plants that will be linked to industrial demand in the Netherlands and Belgium.
The ‘SeaH2Land’ vision will see a hydrogen infrastructure developed with the potential to stretch 45 kms across the North Sea port from Vlissingen-Oost, the Netherlands to Gent, Belgium.
The hydrogen production facility will be built as part of the plans and it’s projected to be capable of 1GW by 2030. It will feature an electrolyser capable of translating 20 percent of the existing hydrogen consumption in the region into renewable hydrogen.
The GW electrolyser will also connect to the region's 2GW offshore wind farm in the Dutch North Sea. A large-scale supply of renewable electricity will become available for the production of renewable hydrogen permitting the Dutch authorities to fast-track offshore wind roll-out in line with increasing electricity demand.
It is projected that the offshore wind farm could be built in one of the southern zones in the Dutch exclusive economic zone – an area that has already been chosen for offshore wind development.
Major industrial players in the Dutch-Flemish North Sea Port cluster – already one of the largest productions and demand centres of fossil hydrogen, in creating a renewable, greener source of zero-emission hydrogen – including ArcelorMittal, Yara, Dow Benelux, and Zeeland Refinery have backed the plans.
Yara, in association with Ørsted and Zeeland Refinery, announced plans for renewable hydrogen production at their sites, while Dow has been exporting hydrogen to Yara since 2018 through the world’s first conversion of a gas pipeline into hydrogen.
The network has the prospect to be extended further south to ArcelorMittal and further north, underneath the river Scheldt, to Zeeland Refinery.
This would be a vital link to create a unique regional ecosystem of hydrogen exchange with significant carbon reduction in the manufacturing processes of ammonia, chemicals, and steel.
Martin Neubert, Chief Commercial Officer, and Deputy Group CEO, Ørsted, said "The Dutch-Flemish North Sea Port covers one of the largest hydrogen clusters in Europe. As the world looks to decarbonise, it's paramount that we act now to secure the long-term competitiveness of European industry in a green economy. The SeaH2Land project outlines a clear vision and roadmap for large-scale renewable hydrogen linked to new offshore wind capacity. With the right framework in place, the Netherlands and Belgium can leverage the nearly unlimited power of the offshore wind to significantly advance renewable hydrogen as a true European industrial success story."
Michael Schlaug, Plant Manager, Yara Sluiskil, said "As one of the largest consumers of hydrogen, Yara welcomes visionary initiatives that can spur the development of a green hydrogen market in the Zeeland region."
Manfred Van Vlierberghe, CEO, ArcelorMittal Belgium, said "ArcelorMittal Belgium maintains its leading role in the field of climate and the environment. We do this by focusing strongly on circularity, gradually replacing raw materials with resources based on waste streams and converting by-products into new raw materials. Also, we focus on using hydrogen, both in our existing processes and in novel technologies. Our ambition is to build a hydrogen pipeline between Dow in Terneuzen and ArcelorMittal in Ghent. We also aim to increase the use of green hydrogen, and for this, our collaboration with Ørsted is an important step. Together with our partners in the Smart Delta Region, we will develop an ecosystem with a great complementarity of companies and knowledge centers."
Anton van Beek, Chairman of the Board, Dow Benelux said "A 380 kV connection to Zeeuws Vlaanderen will be critical to support large-scale direct electrification of Dow's world-scale ethylene plants in Terneuzen."
Daan Schalck, CEO, North Sea Port said "North Sea Port welcomes the ambition of Ørsted to further develop the cross-border port as an important hydrogen cluster in Europe together with the big industrial companies in the region."
Nathalie De Muynck, General Manager, Zeeland Refinery, said "Let us create together the critical mass to kickstart the H2 infrastructure, which is essential for the new H2 developments in the region."
Steven Engels, General Manager Benelux, Ørsted, said "SeaH2Land will help the Netherlands to accelerate its offshore wind build-out and to work towards its ambition of 3-4 GW electrolyser capacity by 2030. SeaH2Land offers the Netherlands and Belgium an opportunity to get closer to realizing its 2030 climate goals by reducing carbon emissions in the industrial sector. Governments can help this flagship project by putting in place a dedicated support mechanism and renewable hydrogen programme coupled to offshore wind. This should support the necessary industrial scaling to bring down the cost of renewable hydrogen."