RWE And Neptune Energy Join Forces To Accelerate Green Hydrogen Production In Dutch North Sea

RWE and Neptune Energy announced that they have signed a Joint Development Agreement to develop the offshore green hydrogen demonstration project “H2opZee” ahead of 2030.

H2opZee is a demonstration project which aims at building 300 to 500 MW of electrolyzer capacity far out in the Dutch North Sea. The capacity will enable the production of green hydrogen by using offshore wind. The hydrogen will then be transported to land through an existing pipeline.

The pipeline has a capacity of 10 to 12 GW, so it is already suitable for the further roll-out of green hydrogen production to gigawatt scale in the North Sea. According to RWE and Neptune Energy, the intention is to begin the feasibility study in the Q2 2022. The project is an initiative of TKI Wind opZee, an initiative supported by the Dutch government that brings people, knowledge, and financing together to realize the offshore energy transition.

H2opZee consists of two phases: In the first phase, a feasibility study will be carried out and an accessible knowledge platform set up. The objective of this is to start the roll-out of hydrogen at sea in the Netherlands. In the second phase, the project will be implemented. For that phase, a tender methodology has yet to be defined. “Hydrogen is a gamechanger in the decarbonization of energy-intensive sectors, and H2opZee is among the world’s first projects of this kind and scale,” said Sven Utermöhlen, CEO of offshore wind at RWE Renewables. “With Neptune Energy at our side, we want to develop the H2opZee project to demonstrate how offshore wind can be an ideal partner for the production of green hydrogen at scale, and to explore the best approaches to system integration. As RWE, we have a 20 years’ track record in offshore wind and have the hydrogen expertise along the entire value chain under one roof. We are convinced that learnings from the H2opZee demonstration project will help in ramping-up the hydrogen economy in the Netherlands, as it presents an important step toward the roll-out of large-scale green hydrogen production offshore.”