Dutch Minister for Climate and Energy Rob Jetten announced new plans for the construction of a national transport network for hydrogen. Gasunie will develop the hydrogen network in the Netherlands in the coming years, after which it will assume the role of TSO (Transmission System Operator). Gasunie will also play an important role in the storage and import of hydrogen. Due to the expected growth in offshore hydrogen production in the North Sea, Minister Jetten will investigate whether Gasunie can also fulfill the role of grid operator at sea. These new plans are a major step in the development of a more sustainable energy system in the Netherlands.
The Netherlands has everything it needs to make hydrogen a success story. Because of its location on a shallow sea that is highly suitable for installing wind turbines, and thanks to the existing infrastructure for transport and storage, we can be ambitious in how we use carbon-free hydrogen, from large-scale production, to transport at home and abroad, to storage.
Han Fennema, CEO of Gasunie: “Gasunie is very positive about the hydrogen plans announced today by Minister Jetten. We believe that hydrogen will play a major role as the energy carrier of the future. We now start the construction of the public hydrogen network in the Netherlands, which will be a great boost for the transition towards a more sustainable energy system.”
In the coming years, the hydrogen network will connect the seaports with the large industrial clusters in our country and with storage locations for hydrogen. Connections with Germany (Ruhr area and Hamburg) and Belgium are also being realised. This will facilitate the growth of the hydrogen market.
Headquartered in Groningen, The Netherlands, N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie is a Dutch natural gas infrastructure and transportation company operating in the Netherlands and Germany. Gasunie owns the Netherlands gas transmission network with a total length of over 12,000 kilometres and 3,100 kilometres long network in Germany.
(Source and image: Gasunie)