The Rotterdam Port Authority is overseeing a bold initiative to build large electrolysis units on the Maasvlakte – reclaimed land near the mouth of the Maas River – to be powered directly by planned offshore wind facilities.

The dedicated area, approximately 25 hectares, is planned for an initial 2GW conversion park, consisting of electrolysis units of 200-300MW each. Shell, bp, and Air Liquide are among the groups now proposing to build the electrolysis factories.

Shell is taking the lead with plans for its 200MW Hydrogen Holland I project, now subject to investment decision later this year. It will supply green hydrogen to Shell’s Energy and Chemicals Park that operates some 40 kilometers further east in the port. Thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers will develop the plant with its large-scale 20 MW alkaline water electrolysis units.

Wind energy for the green hydrogen will come with guarantees of origin from with Hollandse Kust Noord Wind Farm offshore site, now being developed by the CrossWind consortium of Shell and the Dutch renewable energy developer Eneco. The consortium intends to have the 69-turbine wind farm operational by the end of next year.

The conversion park’s next project in line is H2-Fifty, a bp joint venture with the Dutch consortium HyCC. This 250MW electrolysis facility will supply green hydrogen to bp’s refinery and other port industries. Now in conceptual phase, the project anticipates FID by end of next year.

Continued expansion of the Maasvlakte site should gain momentum from EU mandates, which will require the port’s five refineries to achieve net-0 carbon emissions by 2035. The Port Authority anticipates the 25-hectare Maasvlakte site to eventually expand to 20GW capacity, making it by far the largest electrolysis production site in Europe. A ramp up for tendering is anticipated after 2026.