The Netherlands Agency Enterprise (RVO) has granted RWE a funding commitment of 124.9 million euro for its Eemshydrogen project. Eemshydrogen is a project to build a 50-megawatt electrolysis plant at RWE's site in Eemshaven to produce green hydrogen. RWE plans to operate the electrolyser with green electricity from its Westereems wind farm, which is located only around 5 kilometres from the Eemshaven power plant site.
Green hydrogen in the Netherlands
The Netherlands wants to be climate-neutral by 2050, meeting European climate targets. Green hydrogen plays an important role in this, which is why the government has set targets for this in the Climate Agreement: an electrolysis capacity of 3-4 gigawatts (3000–4000 megawatt), with sufficient storage sites and infrastructure, by 2030. At the end of 2022, the government sharpened this: the new target is 8 gigawatts (8000 megawatt) of electrolysis capacity by 2032.
To help further develop the production and application of renewable hydrogen, the Dutch government has developed several subsidies and financing options, including the subsidy scheme Upscaling Fully Renewable Hydrogen Production via Electrolysis (OWE). RWE successfully applied for this grant in the first round of bidding.
Sopna Sury, COO Hydrogen RWE Generation: “This is excellent news. The funding is one crucial component to make the overall project economically viable and advance the ramp-up of the hydrogen market in the province of Groningen and beyond. By supplying clean hydrogen, for example to the transport sector and chemical plants, our Eemshaven site will help reduce carbon emissions of industrial companies in North-Western Europe.”
RWE plans to take a financial investment decision (FID) for Eemshydrogen at the end of 2024.
A major prerequisite for this is the timely connection to the required infrastructure, such as the national hydrogen backbone, in order to transport the green hydrogen to the market. RWE already received an environmental and building permit for Eemshydrogen and is in contact with potential off takers. The suppliers for the required equipment and the construction of the electrolysis plant will be contracted after FID. The Eemshydrogen plant is scheduled to go into operation in 2027.
Hydrogen at RWE
Green hydrogen is a fundamental component of RWE’s investment strategy, with plans to invest 55 billion euros in expanding its green portfolio to 65 gigawatts globally by 2030. This includes plans to build two gigawatts of electrolysis capacity by 2030 in RWE’s core markets. The group is involved in all stages of the hydrogen value chain. Where regulation, support schemes, and sales potential are appropriate, the company develops, constructs, and operates electrolysers and enters import partnerships.
Alongside its partners, RWE is driving over 30 hydrogen projects worldwide, primarily focusing on North-Western Europe and North America. In the United Kingdom (UK), RWE is progressing proposals to develop a green hydrogen production facility on its land adjacent to Pembroke Power Station. In Germany, the relevant authority in Oldenburg has granted permission for the construction and operation of electrolysers at the site of the RWE gas-fired power plant in Lingen.
In the Netherlands, RWE is developing more opportunities to build electrolysers to supply green hydrogen in areas such as Rotterdam and Zeeland.
More information on project Eemshydrogen can be found here.