Hydrogen

Hydrogen is generally expected to play an increasingly important role in future energy supply as an energy carrier. Under the Climate Agreement, the Dutch government presented its Government Vision on Hydrogen (Kabinetsvisie waterstof) in March 2020. This forms the basis for the national hydrogen programme, which is primarily aimed at increasing access to green hydrogen and developing hydrogen infrastructure, also in relation to offshore wind potential.

Hydrogen is used in industry and transport and limited volumes can be injected into the natural gas grid. At present, around 10 billion m3 of hydrogen is produced annually in the Netherlands. This hydrogen is mainly used in the refining industry (50%) and to produce ammonia (32%).

Most hydrogen is produced through Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) using natural gas. This is called 'grey hydrogen' because it originates from fossil fuels. If the CO2 generated during the hydrogen production process is captured, the resulting hydrogen is called 'blue hydrogen' because, compared to grey hydrogen, less CO2 is emitted during the production process. If electrical power from renewable energy sources is used to split water (H2O) using electrolysis, this results in 'green hydrogen'.

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