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In April 2022, Hynetwork Services presented a consultation version of the transport and connection contracts that parties must sign to gain access to the future national hydrogen network.

Hynetwork is considering several potential route options at various locations for Hydrogen Network Western Netherlands. In total, four options are being evaluated in the area north of Lekkerkerk, near the Waalbos and the Kijfhoek railway marshalling yard. These options have emerged from consultations with local stakeholders and technical studies.

Laying new pipelines or retrofitting current natural gas pipelines is not a simple matter. Before starting any work, we want to know exactly what is going on underground. We also carefully assess the impact of the pipeline on the surrounding area. That is why in recent years we have worked together with Antea Group to carry out condition assessments. Jan Rolf Staal is technical specialist for soil and conditions for Hydrogen Network North Sea Canal Area at Hynetwork. He tells us what condition assessments are, why they are needed, what stage we have reached with them and what we do with the results.

De voorbereidingen voor de aanleg van de eerste 32 kilometer waterstofpijpleiding van de Maasvlakte naar Pernis liggen op schema. De omgevingsdienst DCMR (Dienst Centraal Milieubeheer Rijnmond) doet onderzoek naar de verwachte impact van alle waterstofplannen in de regio op het milieu. Axel Pel, programmamanager Verduurzaming Industrie bij DCMR, licht het standpunt van de Milieudienst Rijnmond toe over de nieuwe leiding en over waterstof als groene brandstof. 'We rollen de groene loper uit voor duurzame initiatieven.'

Rens Wilbers steps back, Stephan Tiemessen steps up In the coming years, Hynetwork will be working to build a future-proof hydrogen network in the southwest Netherlands . That project plays a key role in the energy transition and is taking shape one step at a time, in collaboration with the local community.

We can reuse an existing natural gas pipeline between Spaarndam and Zuidbroek for Hydrogen Network Western Netherlands, and we will soon adapt it to transport hydrogen. Before we can begin, we are investigating the ground at various locations along the pipeline. That work began in September.

How can you carry out a large-scale energy project while ensuring the least possible impact on the environment? That question applies to all Hynetwork projects and is the starting point for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Nathalie Kaarls, project procedure and environmental reporting coordinator at Hynetwork, takes us through phase 2 of the EIA for the future hydrogen network in the North Sea Canal area.

Hynetwork and the German transmission system operators Open Grid Europe and Thyssengas signed an agreement to jointly develop a cross‑border hydrogen connection between the Netherlands and Germany on Wednesday, 20 May. The two national hydrogen networks will be interconnected, making use wherever possible of existing natural gas pipelines that will be repurposed for hydrogen transport. The companies are aiming to realise the connection between Zevenaar and Elten around 2031. For Hynetwork, this is the fourth agreement relating to cross‑border connections with Germany and Belgium.

The first major pipeline section of the Dutch hydrogen network has been filled with hydrogen. To fill the 32km-long pipeline, 32 tonnes of RFNBO-certified green hydrogen were procured, along with customised unloading infrastructure needed for the first pipeline cleaning and filling operations. The work was done in partnership with Plug Power Inc., which was selected following a public procurement process.

A shaft twenty-five metres deep. Pipes eighteen metres long that cannot be lowered in one piece. So they are cut in half, welded back together underground, and pulled through. This is how construction progressed in Rotterdam on the first section of the national hydrogen network: 32 kilometres of pipeline, right through the port area, ready for industrial connections.

We are currently working on an important next step for Hydrogen Network Drenthe Overijssel. Recently, surveys have been carried out along the preferred route, and we have held discussions with landowners, public authorities and representatives from the local area. The applications for the permits we need have been submitted, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy is preparing the draft project decision. It describes what the hydrogen network will look like, where the pipeline will be laid and which surveys have been carried out. It also explains how the local area and the natural environment have been taken into account. The draft project decision, together with the draft permits, is expected to be published for public inspection in October 2026. The documents will then be available for anyone to review and comment on.

Kelvin Peperkoorn and Heleen Sarink know the landscape and soil of the northern Netherlands well by now. They have learned where protected species are found, which waterways will be crossed and where drilling is preferable to excavation. For more than a year, they have been working on phase 2 of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) – the phase in which the preferred route of the hydrogen network is worked out in detail. Construction will not begin until an official project decision has been taken, which is expected in 2027. In this interview, Kelvin and Heleen explain which studies are needed and why they are essential to that decision.

In December 2024, we published the new proposal to update the roll-out plan. Stakeholders had until 31 January to respond to this proposal. We would like to sincerely thank all those who made the effort to submit a response. We will keep your responses confidential and will not publish them or share them with third parties.

We recently organised two working sessions about the new hydrogen pipeline that will be laid in the western Netherlands. Together with more than 50 representatives from the province, municipalities, water boards, cable and pipeline owners and other stakeholders, we looked at the possible routes for the new-build section of the hydrogen pipeline. Juanne Rours, regional manager for the project, briefly explains what the working sessions produced.

Hynetwork is investigating several potential routes for the new hydrogen pipeline that will be laid between Zuidbroek and Mijnsheerenland as part of the Hydrogen Network Western Netherlands project. It is a challenging task: the area is densely developed, with many residential areas, roads and motorways, rivers, and nature and recreation areas.

“…you can’t help but feel proud when you see that we have delivered something of such high quality in Rotterdam’s pipeline corridor.” We are building the hydrogen network in the Netherlands step by step. Wherever possible, we make use of existing infrastructure, while maintaining the highest standards of safety and minimising our impact on the surrounding environment. In doing so, we are helping to ensure a reliable energy supply, both now and in the future.

Regional public and private parties (such as local and provincial authorities, port authorities and network operators) can enter into an agreement and the associated financial obligations with Hynetwork for the development and implementation of a connection set-up for future hydrogen developments in the region. This is called a Valve Study Agreement (VSA).

Market parties and transmission system operators from the Netherlands and Germany want accelerated cross-border hydrogen infrastructure to connect Dutch hydrogen production and import with German industry. To reinforce its importance, Dutch and German infrastructure companies, energy companies and governments today signed agreements in Duisburg on developing a hydrogen corridor between the Netherlands and Germany and its use.

A groundbreaking Joint Development Agreement (JDA) has been signed to establish the world’s first liquid hydrogen import corridor, connecting the Sultanate of Oman, the Netherlands, and Germany. This corridor will link the port of Duqm in Oman, the port of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and key logistics hubs in Germany, including the port of Duisburg in Germany, enabling the commercial-scale import of renewable fuel of non-biological origin (RFNBO) compliant liquid hydrogen to Europe. The agreement was signed during the state visit by His Majesty the Sultan of Oman to the Netherlands.

How will the construction of a new hydrogen pipeline affect agricultural land? That is what farmers wanted to know after we presented our initial plans for the Hydrogen Network Western Netherlands project. The farmers had questions about yield losses, permanent damage to the soil and compensation. We spoke to Roburt Honkoop, Land Affairs Adviser at Hynetwork, about these concerns and questions.