US industrial gas firm Air Products has signed a multi-year offtake deal for renewable hydrogen from chemicals firm Nobian's chlor-alkali plant in Rotterdam, the firms said today.
Air Products will distribute the supply to Dutch customers that must meet quotas for renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs) in industry or transport.
Customers will be able to access the supply through Air Products' existing distribution networks for gaseous and liquid hydrogen.
The firms did not disclose offtake volumes or the exact contract duration.
Transport fuel suppliers in the Netherlands have to meet RFNBO quotas from this year and face rising targets up until 2030. Unlike some other EU member states, the Netherlands has yet to set out a quota trajectory beyond 2030.
The government is planning to introduce RFNBO quotas for industrial hydrogen consumers from next year, but the law for this has yet to be finalised.
Nobian produces RFNBO-compliant hydrogen as a by-product at its Rotterdam chlor-alkali output. With a production capacity of more than 14,000 t/yr, it is the largest operational RFNBO-compliant plant in Europe.
Nobian told Argus last year that it intends to ramp up its sourcing of power purchase agreements "to produce RFNBOs in line with market demand".
The company uses some of the by-product hydrogen itself in internal processes.
Nobian's output could meet a substantial share of the demand generated by the industry and transport quotas in the first few years.
Air Products is lining up several renewable hydrogen supply options for northwest Europe. The bulk of the firm's supply will come from the Saudi Neom plant where Air Products is the sole offtaker for the expected 1.2mn t/yr of renewable ammonia output.
