Dutch gas shipping specialist Anthony Veder is participating in a consortium, alongside Shell New Energies, Engie and Vopak, which is studying the feasibility of producing, liquifying and transporting green hydrogen from Portugal to the Netherlands, where it would then be stored and distributed for sale.
The consortium envisions hydrogen being produced by electrolysis from renewable power in the industrial zone of the Sines port. Then the hydrogen is liquified and shipped via a liquid hydrogen carrier to the port of Rotterdam for distribution and sale. The aim of the project, known in the Netherlands as H2Sines.Rdam, is to deliver a first shipment of liquid hydrogen from Sines to Rotterdam by 2027.
Key sector players in hard-to-abate industrial sectors, including marine, are believed to support this development as it fits well with decarbonisation targets.
For example, Dr Andreas Gorbach, Member of the Board of Management, Daimler Truck, said: “We consider liquid hydrogen as a key solution to import renewable energy into markets such as the Netherlands or Germany. We are developing the next generation of trucks which can use liquid hydrogen directly.”
Building more certainty for customers of liquid hydrogen is believed to be vital. Policy instruments that cover cost increases for end-users can be an effective means to achieve this. Such instruments are vital to increase the scale and reduce the cost of liquid hydrogen production and have the power to drive the infrastructure development along the full supply chain. Within the consortium, Shell and Engie will collaborate across the full value chain and Anthony Veder and Vopak will focus on shipping, storage, and distribution. The project will initially look at producing, transporting, and storing around 100t, with the aim of scaling this up over time.
The governments of Portugal and the Netherlands have strengthened their joint ambition for the production and transport of hydrogen, though the signing of an MoU in 2020 and confirmation of the joint goals at the Rotterdam World Hydrogen Summit in May 2022. The project has applied for IPCEI notification under H2Sines (Portuguese submission) and H2Sines.Rdam (Dutch submission).
