Gasunie and Petrogas Transportation are exploring how a pipeline installed under the North Sea can be repurposed for hydrogen transport.
Gasunie, in collaboration with the Dutch Ministry of Climate and Green Growth, is assessing the technical, legal, economic and environmental feasibility of repurposing offshore pipelines for hydrogen transport, while Petrogas will explore options to reuse its existing infrastructure.
They will focus on the feasibility of reuse and repurposing of a natural gas pipeline, which could be connected to the offshore hydrogen project Demo 1, a 20-50MW initiative backed by the Dutch Government.
Demo 1 aims to support the Netherlands’ offshore wind expansion by converting excess wind energy into hydrogen at sea, to reduce reliance on power cables and lower infrastructure costs. The produced hydrogen can then be transported via the reused pipeline.
The reused pipeline project may form part of Gasunie’s wider plans for a Dutch hydrogen network, which will connect Rotterdam, Zeeland, the North Netherlands, the North Sea Canal Area, Chemelot and the Delta Rhine Corridor.
However, whilst the first section in Rotterdam has already begun construction ready for 2026, Gasunie pushed back the overall completion of the network by three years to 2033. They blamed permitting and personnel challenges.
