Netherlands plans green hydrogen import auction by early 2024, backed by €300m of subsidies
Dutch government intends to open its first tender under the German-led H2Global scheme 'at the end of this year/beginning of next year'
The government of the Netherlands plans to host an auction to import green hydrogen or its derivatives at the end of this year or early 2024, backed by €300m ($329m) of subsidies.
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The tender would be held through Germany's existing H2Global auction platform, which acts as a middleman between producers and buyers.
No decision has been made on whether the tender will be for green hydrogen or derivatives such as green ammonia and e-methanol, but the ministry is now putting together a definition of its key criteria.
"[The] aim would be to open tender at the end of this year/beginning of next year," she added.
Under the unique double-auction scheme, a special purpose company owned by the German government Hydrogen Intermediary Network Company (HintCo), will buy green hydrogen or its derivatives from international producers via ten year Hydrogen Purchase Agreements (HPAs), before selling it on to European customers, who will bid for short-term supply contracts via a separate tenders.
But Berlin designed the scheme for EU-wide applications: deliveries can be made to ports in Germany, Belgium or the Netherlands to unspecified “EU-based” customers.
The Dutch government first announced that it would make a “financial contribution” to H2Global in October last year.
If launched successfully, the tender would make the country the first non-German state to use the H2Global platform for hydrogen imports, and comes as the Netherlands is positioning itself as a major green hydrogen import hub.
Rotterdam has also signed agreements with a consortium that includes Shell and Engie to store and transport liquid hydrogen produced in Portugal at the port, and last year made a pact with Dutch gas pipeline operator Gasunie, bulk handler HES and tank storage company Vopak for the companies to build an ammonia import terminal on Rotterdam’s Maasvlakte peninsula.