During the fourth administrative round table ‘Hydrogen and Green Chemistry’, the top from the business community and the knowledge world made further agreements about the scaling up of technology and the intensification of research and innovation. This was done under the chairmanship of the Ministry of Economic Affairs & Climate. ‘It gives a lot of energy to see that we are united with so many parties, industry and knowledge, and are now really starting to achieve our target of 3 to 4 GW in 2030 at a rapid pace’, says Director-General Climate and Energy Sandor Gaastra.
The Netherlands will become a hydrogen hub by integrating three functionalities: hydrogen production, a hydrogen roundabout and hydrogen consumption and green chemistry. With that dot on the horizon, the program board of GroenvermogenNL, which took office this spring, included the roundtable in its vision of an ecosystem for hydrogen and green chemistry in the Netherlands. Marjan Oudeman, chairman of the board: ‘With € 838 million from the National Growth Fund, we really have buttons to turn with GroenvermogenNL. We want to use the resources to accelerate, to connect strengths in the Netherlands and to help create an ecosystem.”
Director-General Business and Innovation Focco Vijselaar was able to immediately add to this the joyful opening of the first subsidy scheme with which demonstration projects for the upscaling of hydrogen and green chemistry can be supported. The almost €30 million comes from GroenvermogenNL.
Three key projects
The round table presented a joint proposal to accelerate three key projects. A lot is happening at the moment in the field of hydrogen and green chemistry. From that overview, the round table has selected three projects whose urgency is widely shared at the table. It concerns a center of expertise in the field of hydrogen safety, a project aimed at import infrastructure and a portfolio approach for national pilot and demo projects. “With these key projects, the round table accelerates three essential preconditions for a future hydrogen ecosystem,” says Marco Waas, one of the initiators of the round table.
Financing in the market
In order to scale up new technology to commercial factories, in addition to public financing of the unprofitable top, capital from the market is also needed to finalize investment decisions. The roundtable discussed the Dutch investment climate with Barbara Baarsma, CEO Rabo Carbon Bank and professor of Market Forces and Competition Economics at the University of Amsterdam. What can the Netherlands do to get banks, insurers and pension funds to invest more in sustainability in the Netherlands? The round table aims to continue this dialogue with the financial sector.
About the Hydrogen and Green Chemistry round table
The round table is commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs & Climate (EZK). The round table is a six-monthly administrative meeting between sector representatives from the business community and SMEs, TSOs and knowledge parties. Chair of the Round Table is Jacqueline Vaessen, Chair ChemistryNL. The round table is a catalyst for scaling up cooperation in the field of hydrogen and green chemistry in the Netherlands and for drawing up ’the state of the art’. The round table advises GroenvermogenNL (growth fund programme) and supports the National Hydrogen Program (NWP) by establishing joint development directions as relevant sectors and converting sector ambitions into agreements. The round table was composed on the basis of a representative delegation from a national perspective, i.e. C-level management at companies and knowledge parties that play a major role in the field of hydrogen and green chemistry in the Netherlands.
