Shell joins with Engie, Anthony Veder and Vopak to ship liquid hydrogen from Portugal to the Netherlands
Shell New Energies, French utility Engie, tank storage specialist Vopak and Dutch gas shipping firm Anthony Veder have joined forces to set up a renewable liquid hydrogen supply chain.
The four companies have penned a deal to study the feasibility of producing, liquifying, and transporting green hydrogen from Portugal to the Netherlands, where it would then be stored and distributed for sale.
The consortium said it aims to produce hydrogen in the industrial zone of the Sines port and then ship it via liquid hydrogen carrier to the port of Rotterdam, with the first deliveries envisioned by 2027.
Under the agreement, Shell and Engie will collaborate across the full value chain, and Anthony Veder and Vopak’s involvement will focus on shipping, storage, and distribution. The partners will initially assess the potential of producing, transporting, and storing around 100 tonnes per day, with the potential to scale this up over time.
The governments of Portugal and the Netherlands have strengthened their joint ambition for the production and transport of hydrogen. This feasibility study follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding in 2020.
In April, a European consortium comprising Portuguese developer Madoqua Renewables, Dutch energy transition project developer and consultancy Power2X and Danish fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners announced plans to build an industrial-scale complex for the production of green hydrogen and ammonia in Sines.
The Portuguese government placed Sines, which is home to the country’s largest deepwater port, at the centre of the national EN-H2 hydrogen strategy.
The project, dubbed the MadoquaPower2X, is currently under development and is expected to be fully permitted and ready for a final investment decision by the end of 2023, with the first hydrogen production by the middle of the decade.
