Netherlands begins construction of national hydrogen pipeline network

The Netherlands has officially begun construction of its planned 1,200 km hydrogen pipeline on Oct. 27, with a first 30-km section running in Rotterdam to start operations in 2025.

The first stretch of pipeline will link the new Tweede Maasvlakte port in Rotterdam to Pernis, where Shell has a refinery.

The wider network to link major industrial clusters in the Netherlands, as well as cross-border connections to Germany and Belgium from 2030 onward.

"One of the preconditions for the development of a hydrogen market is the infrastructure for transport and storage," Gasunie, which is developing the network, said in a statement earlier in October. "By being the first European country to have its hydrogen infrastructure in place, the Netherlands can be an important hub for renewable energy."

The network will also link to import terminals at seaports, domestic hydrogen production sites and large-scale storage facilities.

Much of the network will use repurposed natural gas pipelines, in addition to some purpose-built new hydrogen pipelines.

"The use of existing pipelines, made available by the decrease in natural gas transport, will benefit the environment and reduce costs," Gasunie said. "About 85% of the network will consist of reused natural gas pipelines, which is 75% cheaper than building new infrastructure."

Gasunie subsidiary HyNetwork Services will carry out the project.

The start of construction follows a final investment decision from Gasunie in June for the first phase for over Eur100 million. The nationwide network will cost about Eur1.5 billion, it said.

The plans tie into a wider planned European network -- the European Hydrogen Backbone initiative -- which plans to build a network of 28,000 km of dedicated hydrogen pipelines by 2030, expanding to 53,000 km across 28 European countries by 2040. The initiative is backed by a group of 31 energy infrastructure operators.

Gas grid operators OGE and Nowega started work Oct. 16 to convert a long-distance pipeline from gas to hydrogen, the first such project to get started in Germany.

The 46-km pipeline runs from the OGE compressor station in Emsburen to Bad Bentheim in Lower Saxony and onto Legden in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The conversion will see the pipeline sections separated from the gas network after which upgrade measures for the transport of hydrogen will begin. The pipeline would be ready to flow hydrogen from 2025.

Another Nowega line, which runs from Lingen to Bad Bentheim, will also be converted to hydrogen from November 2023.

Both transmission system operators are part of the GET H2 initiative, the aim of which is to establish the core for a nationwide hydrogen infrastructure.

Cross-border trade

Cross-border trade and shipments of hydrogen will be key to supplying the growing market beyond initial industrial clusters.

One such initiative -- the H2Med green hydrogen project, which will link Portugal and Spain to Germany via France -- took another step toward realization Oct. 18, with OGE signing a memorandum of understanding with other transmission systems operators involved in the project.

The project's key piece of infrastructure is a new Eur2.5 billion ($2.6 billion) subsea pipeline from Barcelona to Marseille, also referred to as BarMar, which aims to export 2 million mt/year of Iberian green hydrogen to France and onward to Germany.

Spain is set to become one of the largest producers of green hydrogen in Europe, with abundant solar and wind resources.

On the supply side, Enagas CEO Arturo Gonzalez said the pipeline would have capacity equivalent to 400% of Spanish estimated demand in 2030, thus ensuring a surplus.

On the demand side, the capacity would be equivalent to around 10% of EU demand.

Hydrogen imports

Europe is set to be a major importer of green hydrogen to meet its projected demands from 2030 onward.

The EU is targeting 10 million mt/year of imports in addition to 10 million mt/year of domestic production by 2030.

Hydrogen production costs via grid-based electrolysis in Europe are among the highest globally, averaging $6.41/kg in September (Netherlands, alkaline electrolysis including capex), the Platts Hydrogen Price Wall shows.

That compares with below $2/kg in Victoria, Australia, one of the cheapest production centers. Platts is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.