North Sea Port aims to grow into hydrogen hub on a European scale

The Belgian-Dutch port company North Sea Port, which resulted from the merger of the port of Ghent with the Dutch ports of Terneuzen and Vlissingen, wants to grow into a hydrogen hub on a European scale. The port company has therefore developed a hydrogen strategy, it announced on Tuesday.

The industrial cluster in North Sea Port is already the largest hydrogen hub in the Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), with an annual production and consumption of 580 kilotons of hydrogen by its companies. The port authority expects that in the years to come, the demand for sustainable hydrogen as a raw material and fuel will increase in sectors such as steel, chemicals, aluminium, fertilisers, refining, food, building materials and transport. This could help existing industries meet the required climate objectives.

The hydrogen currently produced and consumed in North Sea Port is so-called ‘grey hydrogen’. This hydrogen is produced from natural gas, which results in CO2 emissions. By 2050, CO2 emissions must be reduced completely and local industrial demand alone will increase from the current 580 kilotons to more than 1.100 kilotons, the port authority expects.

By 2025, several plants for CO2-free production of green hydrogen will be built, totalling more than 500 megawatts. After 2025, a rapid upscaling is expected to an installed capacity of about 2 gigawatts by 2030.

However, North Sea Port suspects that this sustainable hydrogen will not meet the “enormous demand” in North Sea Port and its hinterland. “Import will be necessary. The potential for import of hydrogen via North Sea Port is estimated at a total of maximum 6 megatons per year in 2050”, the port authority says.

(BRV)

Photo taken during the presentation of a network of pipelines to be built in the Ghent port area for the transport of hydrogen, CO2 and heat. © BELGA PHOTO JONAS D'HOLLANDER