Developing European Hydrogen Valley in the Northern Netherlands

The European Commission has selected the Northern Netherlands to become the leading European hydrogen region and supports the establishment of a completely local (green) hydrogen ecosystem covering production, storage, distribution, refueling, and final use of hydrogen (Cordis, H2Valley, 2019). In line with the European recognition, the Dutch government has set the goal to establish a hydrogen ecosystem by 2025 that would further expand to Western Europe by 2030. Yet before the European Union nominated the Northern Netherlands as European Hydrogen Valley, the key stakeholders in the Northern Netherlands – industry, SMEs, knowledge institutions, and government – committed to the long-term cooperation in the development of the green hydrogen market. Subsequently, the three regional governments of the Northern Netherlands (Groningen, Friesland, and Drenthe) prepared the common Hydrogen Investment Agenda (2019), which was further elaborated in the common Hydrogen Investment Plan (2020). The latter includes investments amounting to over 9 billion euro, which is believed will secure some 66,000 existing jobs and help create between 25,000 (in 2030) and 41,000 (in 2050) new jobs. However, implementation of these ambitious plans to establish a hydrogen ecosystem of this scale will require not only investments into the development of new infrastructure or technological adaptation of present energy systems, e.g., pipelines but also facilitation of economic transformation and securing the social support and acceptance. What are the prospects for the social support for the developing European Hydrogen Valley in the Northern Netherlands and its acceptance by inhabitants? The proposed paper will discuss the social support and acceptance aspects for a hydrogen ecosystem in the context of regional experiences of the energy transition, including the concerns of energy justice, safety, and public trust that were raised in the recent past.