BP and Macquarie offshoot to jointly develop 250MW green hydrogen plant at Rotterdam

British oil and gas giant BP will partner with the newly formed Hydrogen Chemistry Company (HyCC) to develop yet another green hydrogen plant in the port area of Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, this time with plans for 250MW of production capacity.

BP and HyCC – which was launched in December by Australian banking giant Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG) and European chemicals company Nobian – announced on Wednesday the signing of a joint development agreement to build the 250MW H2-Fifty green hydrogen plant.

Green hydrogen produced at the H2-Fifty plant will be used to replace fossil-based feedstocks which are currently used at BP’s Rotterdam refinery and other industries in the port area.

H2-Fifty is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 350,000 tonnes per year – equivalent to the average emissions of around 40,000 Dutch citizens – and is hoped to play a significant role in Dutch and European efforts to decarbonise industry and to develop a larger green hydrogen industry.

“We will use our integration expertise to help build and deploy green hydrogen at scale and H2-Fifty is one of the pillar projects supporting bp’s hydrogen ambitions,” said James Patterson, vice president of Green Hydrogen Solutions at BP.

BP and HyCC will now look to partner with a technology supplier as well as further develop the design of the plant while starting environmental studies for the necessary licensing process. A Final Investment Decision (FID) will be made in 2023.

“Scaling up green hydrogen production not only makes the industry in the port area of Rotterdam more sustainable but it also provides the Netherlands with an opportunity to become a leader in the hydrogen economy,” said Marcel Galjee, managing director of HyCC.

Beyond the H2-Fifty project, HyCC already boasts a pipeline of more than 400MW worth of green hydrogen through water electrolysis projects, including a 60MW facility set to be built in the north of the Netherlands which will provide green hydrogen for renewable methanol and aviation fuels.

Another 100MW green hydrogen project will be built near Amsterdam so as to enable sustainable steel production.

“Green hydrogen is vital to reduce emissions in a wide range of industries that are traditionally difficult to decarbonize – from steel and chemicals to shipping and aviation,” said Kate Vidgen, head of industrial transition and clean fuels at Macquarie’s Green Investment Group.

“We expect a rapid acceleration in the energy transition and are excited to invest alongside an experienced business in this field, to accelerate its development and help industries become more sustainable.”