Giving the green light to Holland Hydrogen I – Shell.
Speed and scale. No two adjectives better capture the approach required if society is to accelerate its global energy transition.
To limit the rise in average global temperature to 1.5°Celsius while continuing to benefit from the immense social and economic benefits of energy, society has mere decades to transform the energy system we’ve built and relied on for well over a century.
Low-carbon hydrogen will have a key role in that transformation as an energy carrier that can help decarbonise key sectors and support enhanced energy security. But for hydrogen to deliver on that potential, collaboration, investment, and commitment are needed in all parts of the hydrogen supply chain.
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Shell announced our decision to move forward with building Europe’s largest electrolyser, the 200MW Holland Hydrogen I facility, which will be located in the port of Rotterdam. The renewable power for the electrolyser will be generated by the Hollandse Kust Noord windfarm, owned partly by Shell.
This news is important on both a local and global scale. In the Netherlands, Holland Hydrogen I is considered by many to be the foundation of a future hydrogen economy in the region, where demand, supply and infrastructure are coming together – thanks in large part to the Netherlands’ commitment to making hydrogen a key part of its energy transition plan.
The role of partnership in delivering Holland Hydrogen I is an important point not to be missed. This project will come to fruition with the help of Gasunie, ThyssenKrupp, Port Of Rotterdam, and more than 150 other organisations working on it over the coming years.
Globally, it will be Shell’s largest electrolyser project when it begins operating in 2025. To put that in perspective, 200MW is roughly two-thirds of today’s global electrolyser capacity in operation.
So, by today’s standards, it’s a massive undertaking, but much more will be needed to reach the GW-scale of low-carbon hydrogen production required as early as the 2030s.
And it’s projects like these that were in mind when Shell formed Emerging Energy Solutions earlier this year, focusing our efforts and resources on the critical energy solutions that we believe will make a substantial contribution to meeting our net zero ambitions.
As more countries define energy transition strategies with a clear role for low-carbon hydrogen, and more companies announce investments like Shell’s decision today, the puzzle pieces start to come together, and a global hydrogen economy begins taking shape.
It sounds simple, but there are many hurdles to overcome, including the cost of building new projects, and the synchronisation to ensure that supply, demand, and infrastructure grow together in tandem.
Policy will play an important role here, as will commitments and investments from more companies to support the rapid growth and development of a global hydrogen economy.
I am immensely proud of Shell’s announcement today, and the collaboration that has made it possible. It is another step forward –an important one – on a long journey towards net zero which we must travel with purpose and at pace to achieve the scale of transformation required.
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Giving the green light to Holland Hydrogen I, July 6, 2022
