Gasunie and Petrogas have announced that they are to investigate how the Petrogas pipeline installed under the North Sea can be reused for the transport of green hydrogen. The research focuses on the feasibility of reuse and possible repurposing of the pipeline for the offshore hydrogen project Demo 1. This is a demonstration project initiated by the Ministry of Climate Policy and Green Growth for the construction of a 20 to 50MW electrolysis plant for the production of green hydrogen in the North Sea and its landfall in the North Sea Canal Area.
The Netherlands has great ambitions when it comes to scaling up and rolling out offshore wind, and it is uniquely positioned to do so. Offshore wind helps make the energy supply sustainable and affordable and will continue to grow rapidly and robustly. It also makes the Netherlands and Europe less dependent on energy from other countries and improves the Netherlands’ competitive position.
An offshore hydrogen network is needed to harvest the wind energy that would otherwise be lost if only power cables were used to get this green energy to shore: in this system the wind energy generated is converted into hydrogen immediately on-site and is then brought to shore through offshore pipelines. In addition to the energy system benefits, hydrogen at sea requires less space for cables and electrolysers on land. Moreover, hydrogen transport is very (cost-)efficient and thus the total cost of energy infrastructure becomes much lower. An additional advantage is that hydrogen can also be imported from other North Sea countries via these North Sea pipelines.
Gasunie is studying the different aspects of repurposing with various parties, including the Dutch Ministry of Climate and Green Growth. Aside from technical feasibility, aspects to be considered include the legal frameworks, economic feasibility, and the effects on nature and the environment. Petrogas is studying various options for reusing its infrastructure, including for the transport of green hydrogen through its existing pipelines.
