Equinor and RWE have joined the NortH2 project, which aims to produce green hydrogen using renewable electricity from offshore wind off the coast of Netherlands of about 4 gigawatts by 2030, and 10+ gigawatts by 2040, kickstarting the hydrogen economy in Northwest Europe.

NortH2 was launched in February 2020, with Shell, Groningen Seaports Gasunie and the province of Groningen. The project will complete a feasibility study by 2021, with the aim to start project development activities in the second half of 2021.

The project will have a capacity of 1 GW in 2027, 4 GW by 2030 and 10+ GW by 2040 for electrolysis. This equates to 0.4 million tonnes of green hydrogen production in 2030 and 1 million tonnes green hydrogen production by 2040. This can abate 8 to 10 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions. This is equivalent to the yearly emissions from road traffic in Norway.

Northwest Europe is well positioned to develop an integrated hydrogen value chain—from offshore wind development and renewable power generation to production, storage, transport and the sale of green hydrogen.

The North Sea has a great potential for large-scale wind development, there is extensive existing natural gas infrastructure that is suitable for storage and large-scale transport of hydrogen, and there are large industrial clusters in the Netherlands and Germany as well as heavy-duty vehicle OEMs that could economically benefit from a first mover advantage.