Rotterdam further invests in hydrogen

The parties have the ambition to realise a hydrogen plant on Uniper’s port-based Maasvlakte facility by 2025 with a capacity of 100MW and to expand this capacity to 500MW. The feasibility study will be completed this summer.

Andreas Schierenbeck, CEO of Uniper: “Our location at Maasvlakte is the perfect place for large-scale production of green hydrogen. This is where everything comes together: large amounts of renewable energy, the required infrastructure, and industrial customers. A better place for green hydrogen production is hardly imaginable.”

Allard Castelein, CEO at the Port of Rotterdam Authority, said: “The production of green hydrogen on the Uniper site fits in perfectly with the strategy of the Port Authority to make the industry more sustainable. Green hydrogen is a sustainable alternative for natural gas to realise high temperatures. Besides, it is an important sustainable feedstock for the chemical industry.”

In the production of green hydrogen, renewable energy is used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. This process is called electrolysis. Maasvlakte is an ideal location to produce green hydrogen, said the port authority. Renewable electricity from offshore wind farms will come ashore here, and various relevant facilities are already available on the Uniper site.

In October 2020, Landsvirkjun, the National Power Company of Iceland, and the Port of Rotterdam signed an MoU for a green hydrogen export study. In the same month, the Port of Rotterdam Authority announced its participation in a study looking at the practical aspects of how a hydrogen exchange could be set up in the Netherlands.

In July 2020, the Port of Rotterdam Authority become the first port member of the Hydrogen Council.