The Port of Rotterdam has made headway this year in expanding its renewable energy base, with the European breakbulk hub announcing several major deals for world-scale green hydrogen and biofuels projects.
Rotterdam, host port for Breakbulk Europe 2023, has long set its sights on becoming an international hydrogen centre, working with various partners to set up a green hydrogen network across its facilities.
Last month, Shell announced it had taken final investment decision on Holland Hydrogen I, billed as Europe’s largest green hydrogen plant. The facility will be built on Maasvlakte 2, home to a number of existing clean energy projects, with start-up estimated for 2025.
A 200-MW electrolyser will make up to 60,000 kilos per day of renewable hydrogen produced from wind power, which the energy company will use to replace some of the grey hydrogen used at the nearby Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam.
Other announcements this year include the port’s first clean hydrogen filling station for heavy-duty trucks at Botlek. The project is being developed by industrial gases company Air Products, with commissioning expected in 2023.
Air Products has also signed a joint development deal with Gunvor Petroleum Rotterdam for a green ammonia import terminal at the port. Imported ammonia would be converted to hydrogen and distributed to markets within Europe, including the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.
Fuel refiner Neste, meanwhile, has taken the final investment decision to invest €1.9 billion in expanding capacity at its renewable products refinery, from 1.4 million tonnes per year to 2.7 million tonnes by 2026.
Neste, headquartered in Espoo, Finland, produces renewable diesel and jet fuel, and raw materials for the chemicals industry.
“These investment decisions by the business community add up to a total amount of approximately €3 billion,” the port said in a filing. “This kind of investment means that the energy transition is progressing across the entire spectrum.”
Rotterdam also reported a surge in breakbulk handling in the first half of the year.
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