Ports of Rotterdam and Sines agree on hydrogen imports

ENGIE, Shell, Vopak and Anthony Veder have agreed to develop a green hydrogen logistic maritime corridor connecting the ports of Sines in Portugal and Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

The project named H2Sines.RDAM aims to produce green hydrogen on a unit located in Sines, convert it to liquefied hydrogen and export it to Rotterdam via a dedicated liquid hydrogen carrier.

The goal is to deliver the first shipment of liquid hydrogen from Sines to Rotterdam by 2028. Hydrogen will be used as fuel for heavy transport.

The partners signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) concerning the project on 16 December.

In addition to ENGIE, Shell, Vopak and Anthony Vede, supporting partners of the project are REN, Port of Sines, Port of Rotterdam, Gasunie and ABN AMRO.

The new agreement follows the signing of an MoU in 2020 between the Portuguese and Dutch governments to develop strategic maritime hydrogen corridors.

Besides the H2Sines.RDAM project, the ports of Sines and Rotterdam have also been working together on the MAGPIE Project – sMArt Green Ports for Integrated Efficient multimodal mobility, a call framed within the European Green Deal – Horizon 2020.

Similar to the Sines-Rotterdam green hydrogen corridor, Port of Rotterdam, together with its consortium partners, is also establishing a hydrogen export route from Scotland to Rotterdam via liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) under a project called LHyTS.

At the same time, the port is setting up the first green hydrogen corridor between southern and northern Europe with Spanish energy company Cepsa, ensuring a green hydrogen supply chain between two of Europe’s main ports, Rotterdam and Algeciras. The trade lane is expected to be operational by 2027.