Hydrogen: building a system that does not yet exist
Imagine this: a ship departs silently from the quay. No diesel engine, no emissions. On board, an installation that produces green hydrogen to power the ship during the voyage.
With the Neo Orbis, the Port of Amsterdam demonstrates how the application of hydrogen is becoming increasingly concrete. The ship is already sailing electrically, and the hydrogen installation will follow soon. As a result, it is no longer a distant prospect, but a development that is becoming reality step by step.
Why hydrogen
Green hydrogen (climate-neutral produced hydrogen) plays a key role in the energy transition. For shipping and parts of the industry where electrification is difficult, it offers one of the few realistic routes to sustainability. Especially for processes requiring high temperatures, hydrogen is an important alternative to fossil fuels.
Port of Amsterdam is working towards a climate-neutral port area by 2050, in line with the international Paris Climate Agreement. In that future energy system, green hydrogen is not an end in itself, but an essential means to reduce emissions.
Hydrogen is not new in this regard. It has been used for decades in, for example, the chemical industry and refining. The real change lies in the transition from fossil (‘grey’) to sustainable, green hydrogen. This changes not only the energy source but also the system surrounding it.
A system that has yet to emerge
And it is precisely that system that makes hydrogen complex. It is not about a single technology, but about an entirely new chain of production, transport, storage, and use — all of which must develop simultaneously.
This leads to a classic chicken-and-egg problem. Producers only invest when there is demand, while consumers only switch when hydrogen is available and affordable. Infrastructure follows the same logic. Without targeted efforts, development will stagnate.
“Green hydrogen is not a solution that arises on its own,” says Gert-Jan Nieuwenhuizen, Executive Director New Business at Port of Amsterdam. “We must be prepared to invest in multiple links simultaneously. Only in this way will the chain get moving.”
Don’t wait, but build
That is precisely why Port of Amsterdam chooses not to wait, but to actively build that system together with partners.
A concrete example is H2avennet: a regional hydrogen network in the Amsterdam port area. Together with Firan Waterstof, the design has been finalized and preparations for realization have started. The next step is crucial: finding a first producer to feed green hydrogen into the network.
That shows exactly how the transition works in practice. Infrastructure cannot exist without supply, but supply only gets going once there is infrastructure. With H2avennet, that cycle is deliberately broken.
The network focuses on companies with energy-intensive processes where electrification is not always feasible. Green hydrogen offers an alternative to fossil fuels in these cases and simultaneously helps to relieve the pressure on the overloaded electricity grid.
“With H2avennet, we give companies in the port area access to green hydrogen via an open and scalable infrastructure,” says Nieuwenhuizen. “For many industrial processes, it is an essential alternative for achieving sustainability.”
In the long term, the network can be connected to the national hydrogen network of HyNetwork Services. This creates a connection between regional production, import, and industrial consumption.
From import to application
The development is not limited to infrastructure alone. Port of Amsterdam is also working on international supply, together with partners such as Ecolog and North Atlantic, and on stimulating demand.
Companies in industry, mobility, and logistics are preparing for the use of hydrogen, while applications such as the Neo Orbis demonstrate what that could look like in practice.
In this way, a coherent system emerges step by step, in which various links reinforce each other.
What is needed?
To scale up this development, clear preconditions are needed: stable policy, investment certainty, and clear choices regarding infrastructure. These determine whether projects can actually be realized and whether the market develops further.
Practice shows that this development does not happen automatically, but accelerates when public and private parties invest together.
Between promise and reality
“Hydrogen shows what the energy transition is really about,” says Nieuwenhuizen. “Not just about new forms of energy and carriers, but about building new systems. Our role in this is clear: not waiting for the market to develop on its own, but actively contributing to its development.”
By investing now in supply chains, infrastructure, and applications, a new energy base is emerging step by step. Still incomplete, but in motion.
And that is precisely where the transition lies: not in a final vision, but in what is already being built today.
Source: Port of Amsterdam