Gasunie and Vopak join in on hydrogen terminal infrastructure

Gasunie and Vopak want to jointly develop terminal infrastructure for imports of hydrogen into Northwest Europe via Dutch and German ports.

Gasunie and Vopak have therefore entered into a cooperation agreement. They will specifically develop future open access hydrogen import terminal infrastructure. Previously, the companies have been working together in the Gate LNG terminal in the Port of Rotterdam.

Alongside the production of H2, large-scale import of green H2 will become essential for reaching the European Green Deal and the Fit for 55 targets. The first import streams to Germany and the Netherlands are expected by 2025. Global supply chains and logistics infrastructure need to be developed for the import of green H2 required for the energy transition.

The cooperation agreement includes import projects for hydrogen through green ammonia, liquid organic hydrogen carriers, and liquid hydrogen technologies.

Vopak and Gasunie will focus on developing import infrastructure related to storage. This enables the further distribution of hydrogen to end-users and contributes to the security of supply in Northwest Europe.

As independent infrastructure companies, they will focus solely on the development as well as safe operation of open access infrastructure.

In addition, Gasunie, Vopak, and HES will develop an import terminal for a H2 carrier in the port of Rotterdam. They named it ACE Terminal.

Ulco Vermeulen from Gasunie said: “Hydrogen is an essential component of the sustainable energy mix of the future. Our joint goal is to enable the international hydrogen value chain by providing the necessary import infrastructure.…With this agreement, Vopak and Gasunie can play a role in the transport, storage and import as part of the international hydrogen value chain.”