Engie, OCI and EEW are collaborating to develop, build, and operate a large-scale project in the Netherlands to produce e-methanol by combining hydrogen generated by offshore wind and biogenic carbon dioxide.
The HyNetherlands (HyNL) project will be located in the north of the country in Groningen province.
Engie will bring green hydrogen expertise, while OCI is Europe’s largest methanol producer, and EEW produces electricity and heat from the thermal recovery of waste.
The first phase of the project will consist of a new 100MW electrolyser facility that will produce hydrogen for e-methanol production and deliver renewable-based hydrogen to the local mobility and industry sectors.
There are then plans to scale up electrolyser production capacity from 100MW in 2025 to 1.85GW in the early 2030s.
HyNL will connect individual industrial sites at three different locations.
The Engie hydrogen production site will be located on the site of the Eems power plant in Eemshaven, with the electrolyser powered by 200MW of offshore wind.
The EEW carbon capture plant will be integrated with the existing waste-to-energy plant in Farmsum.
It will capture biogenic CO2 from the flue gases of the plant’s production lines. CO2 logistics and infrastructure will intentionally be provided by Groningen Seaports.
OCI’s BioMCN methanol facility, located in the Delfzijl chemical park in Farmsum, has the capacity to combine hydrogen and biogenic CO2 to produce e-methanol.
The Engie and OCI/BioMCN plants will be connected to the hydrogen network that Gasunie is developing throughout the Netherlands and Northern Germany.
The vast majority of the national network for hydrogen will consist of pipelines currently used for natural gas transportation.
The trio said that obtaining the necessary financial support and government approvals for the project are key priorities.
The project has already applied for grants from the European authorities – Innovation Fund.