The Port of Rotterdam Authority has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Landsvirkjun, the National Power Company of Iceland to perform a pre-feasibility study of exporting green hydrogen from Iceland to Rotterdam.
According to a statement, the MOU will see the parties exchange of knowledge, with the aim of exploring new opportunities of cooperation related to hydrogen.
The MoU is also part of the Port’s hydrogen strategy, with which it aims to become the major import hub for hydrogen to supply to Europe’s changing energy consumers.
Recently, Landsvirkjun announced the feasibility-study of developing a hydrogen production facility at the Ljósifoss Hydropower Station, about 70 km outside of Reykjavík. The production will be carbon-free, through the electrolysis of water with renewable power.
This carbon-free method of producing hydrogen is still too uncommon, with most of the world’s hydrogen supply currently produced from natural gas with its respective carbon footprint.
At the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21 in Paris 2015, participating states agreed to pursue efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C, compared to pre-industrial levels. In order to achieve this, a major world-wide energy transition is necessary, replacing fossil fuels with renewable carbon-free energy sources. Hydrogen is a major component to the European Union’s plan for a major energy transition in the coming years.
“We expect hydrogen to take on the position oil has today, as an energy carrier as well as feedstock for the industry. We are therefore exploring the possibilities to import hydrogen from countries that have the potential to produce large volumes of hydrogen at a competitive price, like Iceland.”
Hordur Arnarson, CEO of Landsvirkjun, also commented: “Hydrogen is without a doubt one of the energy carriers of the future, and a very exciting option as a means to combat climate change. Using hydrogen as a carrier, we can export our Icelandic green renewable energy to the European mainland, thereby increasing our contribution to the joint efforts necessary to facilitate a world-wide energy transition.
“The European market for green hydrogen will no doubt grow considerably in the coming years, and this MOU will enable us to monitor and take part in that development right from the get-go.”
