Engie, OCI, EEW plan gigawatt-scale hydrogen project in Netherlands

French utility Engie SA (EPA:ENGI), Dutch methanol producer OCI NV (AMS:OCI) and Germany’s EEW Energy from Waste GmbH (EEW) have teamed up to develop a hydrogen and e-methanol project in the Netherlands.

Located in Groningen province in the north of the Netherlands and dubbed HyNetherlands (HyNL), the project will initially consist of a 100-MW electrolyser powered by offshore wind that will produce hydrogen for e-methanol production, as well as for supply to the local mobility and industry sectors. The ambition is to increase the electrolyser capacity from 100 MW in 2025 to 850 MW in 2030 and 1.85 GW in the early 2030s.

Engie's role will be to produce hydrogen. The 100-MW electrolyser, powered by 200 MW of offshore wind, will be located at the Eems power plant in Eemshaven. An EEW carbon capture plant will be sited at the existing waste-to-energy plant in Farmsum, while OCI’s BioMCN methanol facility in the Delfzijl chemical park in Farmsum will combine hydrogen and biogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) to produce e-methanol.

“Methanol is one of the most effective green hydrogen carriers and will be key to the development of the hydrogen economy in the Netherlands and Europe,” according to OCI chief executive Ahmed El-Hoshy.

The Engie and OCI plants will be connected to the hydrogen network being developed by Dutch gas network company Gasunie in the Netherlands and northern Germany.

The partners will aim to secure the needed financial support and government approvals and have applied for grants from the EU Innovation Fund.

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