On Friday 27 October, his Majesty the King of the Netherlands performed the official ceremony to start work on the construction of a national hydrogen network in the Netherlands. The ceremony took place on the building site of Gasunie subsidiary Hynetwork Services in the port of Rotterdam, where the contractor, Visser & Smit Hanab, will build the first section of the national network. From 2030, the national hydrogen network, which will cost around 1.5 billion euros to build, will connect the Netherlands’ major industrial areas to each other and to Germany and Belgium. The Dutch government commissioned Gasunie last year to develop the hydrogen network.

After the official start, King Willem-Alexander was treated to a tour of the building site by Gasunie and contractor staff. Sustainable, zero-emission equipment will be used for the construction, and Gasunie will also use solutions such as HyTap, which is unique technology that makes it possible to safely connect end users to the hydrogen pipelines. After the tour, the King engaged with several of the parties involved in both the Netherlands and abroad about the transition of businesses towards sustainability, about the role of hydrogen in a sustainable energy system, about hydrogen transport, and about hydrogen import options.

Hydrogen plays a crucial role in making energy supply more sustainable. For example, in making industry and heavy transport more sustainable. One of the preconditions for the development of a hydrogen market is that there needs to be infrastructure in place for the transport and storage of hydrogen. By being the first country in Europe to have its hydrogen infrastructure in place, the Netherlands can become an important hub for renewable energy.