During the fourth administrative round table ‘Hydrogen and Green Chemistry’, the top of the business community and the knowledge world made further agreements about the upscaling of technology and the intensification of research and innovation. This was done under the chairmanship of the Ministry of Economic Affairs & Climate. ‘It gives us a lot of energy to see that we are united with so many parties, industry and the knowledge world, to really start to achieve our target of 3 to 4 GW in 2030 at a rapid pace’, says Director-General Climate and Energy Sandor Gaastra.
The Netherlands will become a hydrogen hub by integrating three functionalities: hydrogen production, a hydrogen roundabout and hydrogen consumption and green chemistry. With that dot on the horizon, the GroenvermogenNL programme board, which took office this spring, took the round table along in its vision of an ecosystem for hydrogen and green chemistry in the Netherlands.
Marjan Oudeman, chairman of the board: ‘With € 838 million from the National Growth Fund, we really have buttons to turn with GroenvermogenNL. We want to use the means to accelerate, to connect strengths in the Netherlands and to help create an ecosystem.’
Director-General for Business and Innovation Focco Vijselaar was able to immediately add the joyful opening of the first subsidy scheme with which demonstration projects for the upscaling of hydrogen and green chemistry can be supported. The nearly € 30 million comes from GroenvermogenNL.
THREE KEY PROJECTS
The round table presented a joint proposal to accelerate the possibleisation of three key projects. There is a lot going on at the moment in the field of hydrogen and green chemistry. Based on this overview, the round table has selected three projects whose urgency is widely shared at the table. It concerns a centre of expertise in the field of hydrogen safety, a project focused on import infrastructure and a portfolio approach for national pilot and demo projects. ‘With these key projects, the round table accelerates around three essential preconditions for a future hydrogen ecosystem’, says Marco Waas, one of the leaders of the round table.
TNO IS KEEN TO MAKE AN IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION TO THE NETHERLANDS’ AMBITION TO BE THE HYDROGEN HUB
Tjark Tjin-A-Tsoi, CEO of TNO who participates on behalf of the applied knowledge institutions, endorses the importance of cooperation in the total knowledge chain. ‘In this way, we can bring fundamental knowledge to application, with social and economic impact for the Netherlands. TNO does this, for example, by analysing for specific industry clusters where there are opportunities for emission reduction through the use of hydrogen.
There are still major challenges, for example in the upscaling of electrolyzers and the storage of hydrogen, essential links in a future hydrogen ecosystem. It is not for nothing that TNO develops innovations and conducts research. Every country wants to become the hydrogen hub of the world. An important condition here is that all parties in the chain work together with a system-oriented approach. Both technically and from the decision-making process. After all, the pace is determined by the weakest link. TNO is happy to make an important contribution to the Netherlands’ ambition to be the hydrogen hub.’
FINANCING IN THE MARKET
In order to scale up new technology into commercial factories, in addition to public financing of the unprofitable top, capital from the market is also needed to make investment decisions. The roundtable was held in conversation with Barbara Baarsma, CEO Rabo Carbon Bank and Professor of Market Forces and Competition Economics at the University of Amsterdam, to discuss the Dutch investment climate. What can the Netherlands do to get banks, insurers and pension funds to invest more in sustainability in the Netherlands? The round table aims to continue this dialogue with the financial sector.
ABOUT THE ROUNDTABLE HYDROGEN AND GREEN CHEMISTRY
The round table operates on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs & Climate (EZK). The round table is a six-monthly administrative meeting between sector representatives from business and SMEs, TSOs and knowledge parties. The round table is a catalyst to scale up the cooperation in the field of hydrogen and green chemistry in the Netherlands and to draw up ‘the state of the country’. The round table advises GroenvermogenNL (growth fund programme) and supports the National Hydrogen Programme (NWP) by laying down joint development directions as relevant sectors and converting sector ambitions into agreements. The round table is composed on the basis of a representative delegation from a national perspective, i.e. C-level management at companies and knowledge parties that play a major role in the field of hydrogen and green chemistry in the Netherlands.
SOURCE: TNO
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