The Netherlands sees no role for new plants producing blue hydrogen from natural gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS) and will instead focus support on CCS retrofits and other forms of low-carbon hydrogen, the government has said.
New CCS-based hydrogen plants would increase the Netherlands' natural gas demand and reliance on imports, minister for climate and green growth Stientje van Veldhoven-van der Meer said. This runs counter to the country's aim to cut gas use and import dependence, she said.
For non-renewable low-carbon hydrogen use in industry, the government will instead focus on decarbonising residual gases and existing grey hydrogen production through carbon capture, as well as hydrogen from residual waste. Such projects can benefit from direct policy support, for example under the SDE++ scheme, van Veldhoven-van der Meer said.
Some initiatives are already under way. Norwegian fertilizer producer Yara plans to capture carbon at its Sluiskil ammonia plant in the Netherlands, while German utility RWE aims to produce hydrogen from waste at its Furec project.
Van Veldhoven-van der Meer also pointed to "uncertainties surrounding market developments, costs and demand for additional low-carbon hydrogen".
The previous government last year decided against dedicated support for new CCS-based hydrogen plants because of "lagging large-scale domestic demand", as EU hydrogen consumption targets for transport and industry focus on renewable hydrogen.
A domestic scheme to provide offtake for CCS-based hydrogen in gas-fired power plants has been abandoned. In early 2025, the previous government proposed a blending obligation for low-carbon fuels in gas-fired plants, starting at 1pc by 2030 and rising to 5pc by 2035, supported by subsidies with €780mn initially earmarked. But the mandate and subsidy plans have been cancelled, van Veldhoven-van der Meer said.
Earlier this decade, the Netherlands promoted CCS-based hydrogen as a key part of its transition to cleaner fuels and feedstock, and numerous developers announced projects. But several initiatives have since been shelved, including the 210,000 t/yr H2M Eemshaven project, which Norway's state-controlled Equinor called off earlier this year because of "policy uncertainty and lack of funding".
