From Filling Stations to Dredgers: The Hydrogen Chain Is Growing from the Ground Up

Meanwhile, another movement is emerging, smaller in scale and less visible. At construction sites, during drilling operations, on dredging vessels and at filling stations, green hydrogen is gradually gaining ground. Driven by concrete tender requirements, permitting problems or grid congestion, green hydrogen is finding its place in the energy transition from the ground up.

The search statistics on the hydrogen map of Nederland Waterstofland show that this movement is serious. It is not the large electrolyser projects that are searched for most often, but terms such as “H2 cement mixer” and “H2 concrete drill.” Four initiatives show what this looks like in practice.

Van Kessel: from fuel trader to hydrogen distributor

Van Kessel, originally a fuel trader, is now also a producer, transporter and distributor of green hydrogen. The family-owned company, now led by the fourth generation, operates an electrolyser in Nieuwegein and is building a second one in Oude-Tonge, a town in the municipality of Goeree-Overflakkee.

“In Nieuwegein, we use the solar park located directly next to the site,” says Johan van Mierlo, technical director at Van Kessel. When the sun is not shining, the company uses green electricity from the grid. Van Kessel has entered into a PPA, or Power Purchase Agreement, for this purpose.

According to Van Mierlo, the associated filling station is one of the largest hydrogen stations in the Netherlands and is already operating close to capacity. “We are one of the very few companies producing and supplying certified green hydrogen.”

In addition to its permanent filling stations, Van Kessel also deploys mobile hydrogen generators, including in Natura 2000 areas where diesel generators are not welcome because of their emissions, and at events such as those held at the Zandvoort circuit. The generators are also used at construction sites for projects that would otherwise not receive a permit because of nitrogen emissions.

For transport, the company has nine tube trailers, making it one of the largest hydrogen transporters in the Netherlands.

According to Van Mierlo, demand for hydrogen is growing gradually. Transport companies operating MAN trucks, taxi companies and the Dutch Ministry of Defence are among the customers driving increasing demand for green hydrogen. Subsidy schemes such as SWIM, the Hydrogen Mobility Subsidy Scheme, help break the chicken-and-egg problem between supply and demand.

No company can build the hydrogen chain on its own, Van Mierlo says. For the Nieuwegein electrolyser, Van Kessel works under the name HySolar with Scholman and Allied Water.

Van Mierlo expects hydrogen to remain a niche alongside electrification, but an essential one. That is why Van Kessel is investing in it. For heavy-duty and long-distance transport, Van Mierlo considers hydrogen a logical choice, especially because refuelling is faster and provides greater range than electric charging.

Van Staveren: from filling station chain to on-site energy hub

Van Staveren has been supplying fuel to agriculture, industry and campsites in the northern Netherlands for decades. The company also operates 35 filling stations, from Voorthuizen on the Veluwe to Dokkum in Friesland.

As demand for fossil fuels declines, Van Staveren is increasingly focusing on new energy solutions. The food and hospitality facilities at its filling stations are becoming more professional and more important. Charging plazas are being added, and Van Staveren is closely following developments in hydrogen so it can respond to new opportunities as soon as the market demands them.

“We see that interest in sustainable forms of energy, such as hydrogen, is continuing to grow,” says Stefan de Raat, who is responsible for sales and business development at Van Staveren.

However, the company is expanding its activities beyond the modernisation of filling stations. Van Staveren is involved in a new construction project in Emmeloord, for example, where a customer did not receive the electricity connection it needed.

The company already had solar panels and several batteries, but ran short of electricity in winter and therefore installed a diesel generator. Since April 1, the energy site has been expanded with a hydrogen generator connected to a hydrogen trailer. When there is insufficient solar power, the energy management system automatically switches on the hydrogen generator.

The diesel generator is still there, but it now serves as an emergency power source and is no longer needed for daily energy requirements. “That machine has not run for months,” De Raat says.

In summer, the batteries are already fully charged around noon. To make better use of solar power during the afternoon as well, the system will soon be expanded with an electrolyser, a fuel-cell generator and hydrogen storage containing several hydrogen bundles.

The electrolyser converts surplus solar power into green hydrogen, which is then stored. At a later stage, the hydrogen can be used to generate electricity with the fuel-cell generator. The generator’s residual heat is used to heat the production facility through underfloor heating.

The project is being jointly developed by Van Staveren and Tolsma-Grisnich.

Tolsma-Grisnich supplies climate-control systems worldwide for drying, ventilating and cooling potatoes and onions. Tolsma-Grisnich’s customers also use substantial amounts of electricity and are increasingly facing grid congestion. More and more arable farmers are showing interest in this type of installation. Surplus solar power can be converted into hydrogen and stored during the summer.

In the future, this hydrogen could possibly also be supplied to other parties. De Raat says: “The end of the net-metering scheme is creating a need for new ways to use solar power. Hydrogen offers interesting possibilities. However, legislation and regulation still need to be better aligned with this.”

According to De Raat, hydrogen cannot always compete with grid electricity on the basis of the standard electricity price. “But the situation is different when solar power is used that would otherwise remain unused. Energy that would otherwise be lost is stored and used at a later time.”

A.Hak: hydrogen as a permitting solution for drilling operations

A.Hak has been laying pipelines for decades, originally for the Netherlands’ natural gas infrastructure. The company grew out of the business founded by Arie Hak and today consists of the crane-hire company and underground contractor A.Hak.

The company mainly follows the client’s lead. “We do not decide ourselves what is built or what it is built with,” says Eveline Dijkers, manager of marketing and communications. “If Gasunie decides that a former gas pipeline will become a hydrogen pipeline, we as the contractor take over.”

This role also requires the company to make its own equipment more sustainable. Diesel generators at construction sites are increasingly being replaced by hydrogen generators.

In January 2024, A.Hak carried out its first hydrogen-powered pipeline drilling operation in Bergen op Zoom. The reason was practical: it was not possible to obtain a permit for a diesel generator for drilling in a Natura 2000 area. A hydrogen generator supplied by Genpower allowed the work to go ahead.

Since then, A.Hak has used the method several more times. Another project in Zeeland will follow shortly.

The choice of hydrogen is by no means automatic, Dijkers says. Because of the additional safety measures required when using hydrogen, the generator must be positioned some distance from the drilling site. This requires space during project execution. In urban environments, that space is not always available.

“We are enthusiastic about drilling with hydrogen as an energy source because it produces no emissions and causes no noise pollution. But the availability of green hydrogen and its high cost remain obstacles,” says Dijkers.

A.Hak therefore uses hydrogen only when the client specifically requests it. “There are many urgent projects that cannot go ahead because of nitrogen restrictions. That justifies the use of green hydrogen, even though it is more expensive. The alternative is that the project does not go ahead at all.”

A.Hak’s clients are feeling political pressure to become more sustainable. Dijkers points out that the supply and capacity of sustainable equipment are still limited. “The equipment has to be available, as does the staff capable of operating it.”

In her view, policymakers in The Hague should provide clarity about how quickly sustainability requirements in tender procedures will be tightened. This would allow the sector to expand its capacity in a targeted manner over the coming years.

ZEDHub: the dredging sector seeks its own route

By spraying sand to create new land, the dredging sector helps protect coastal areas around the world that are threatened by climate change. “At the same time, dredging vessels emit greenhouse gases. That is a contradiction. In some regions, governments want the impact of dredging activities to be minimised,” says Arjen de Jong, director of ZEDHub, an organisation working on the development of zero-emission dredging vessels.

Dredging vessels currently run almost entirely on MGO, or Marine Gas Oil. This fuel resembles diesel and is already considerably cleaner than the heavy fuel oil often used in shipping. MGO is used to propel the vessel, pump and spray sand, and provide all the energy required on board.

The energy transition presents a different challenge in the dredging sector than it does for an ordinary vessel travelling from A to B. Switching to hydrogen is more complex than it is for a conventional ship, De Jong explains.

A dredging vessel constantly switches between tasks: sailing, dredging sand and spraying it. “Particularly during pumping, the power demand can fluctuate by 30 to 40 percent within a single second. A diesel engine handles that effortlessly, but a hydrogen fuel cell does not,” he explains.

ZEDHub is therefore investigating a combination of a fuel cell for the base load and a battery pack to absorb peak demand. “It is more complex, but much more energy-efficient,” De Jong says.

This complexity is also why an industry-wide initiative was established. Seven years ago, the ZEDHub foundation was set up with support from the Drechtsteden region and the companies Boskalis, IHC, Van Oord and Damen Shipyards. Its aim was to develop zero-emission dredging together with the entire sector.

De Jong says: “We wanted to do this with the whole sector. By now, several ports have also signed an agreement endorsing the sustainability ambition.”

After desk research and laboratory tests, two pilot projects followed on vessels operated by Van Oord and Boskalis. The vessels carried out dredging operations for one week and four weeks respectively with modified energy systems on board.

The pilots mainly generated knowledge about regulations, certification, operational challenges and logistics in ports. The next step is commercial application.

A vessel operated by dredging company Martens and Van Oord is already being used with a battery-electric system, while Van den Herik has a zero-emission dredging vessel that is being converted to hydrogen. This is being done in two phases.

The first phase involves battery-electric operation, with a mobile charging installation on shore powered by green hydrogen. Hydrogen storage on board will be added at a later stage.

“For that final step, certification has not yet been arranged,” says De Jong. “That is because of the lack of regulations.”

According to the ZEDHub director, inland-waterway dredging vessels are a logical first step in the sector’s sustainability efforts. Seagoing vessels will follow later.

At sea, costs quickly rise by a factor of ten because the vessels are larger and have greater installed power. Gaseous hydrogen storage is then no longer sufficient. The sector will have to switch to liquid hydrogen or methanol.

“A feasibility study has already been carried out for a trailing suction hopper dredger, and the basic engineering has also been completed.”

Around mid-2027 and mid-2028, two important tenders will be issued by Rijkswaterstaat and the Port of Rotterdam. The contracts will require a substantial share of sustainable fuel.

In this way, governments play an important role in making the dredging sector more sustainable. Which fuel will ultimately be used, hydrogen, methanol or something else?

“That is up to the market,” De Jong concludes.