How Hydrogen Is Becoming a Reality Step by Step in the Port of Amsterdam
Imagine a ship leaving the quay silently. No diesel engine, no emissions. On board is a system that produces green hydrogen, supplying the ship with energy while it is underway. With the Neo Orbis, the Port of Amsterdam is demonstrating how the application of hydrogen is becoming increasingly tangible. The ship already operates electrically, and the hydrogen system will be added soon. This means it is no longer a distant vision of the future, but a development that is becoming reality step by step.
Why hydrogen?
Green hydrogen - hydrogen produced in a climate-neutral way - plays a key role in the energy transition. For shipping and parts of industry where electrification is difficult, it offers one of the few realistic pathways to decarbonisation. Hydrogen is particularly important as an alternative to fossil fuels in processes that require high temperatures.
The Port of Amsterdam is working towards a climate-neutral port area by 2050, in line with the international climate agreements reached in Paris. In that future energy system, green hydrogen is not an end in itself, but an essential means of reducing emissions.
Hydrogen is not new. It has been used for decades in, for example, the chemical industry and oil refining. The real change lies in the transition from fossil-based (“grey”) hydrogen to sustainable, green hydrogen. This changes not only the energy source, but also the system surrounding it.
A system that still needs to be built
And it is precisely this system that makes hydrogen complex. It is not about a single technology, but about an entirely new chain of production, transport, storage and use, all of which must develop simultaneously. This creates a classic chicken-and-egg problem. Producers will only invest when there is demand, while users will only switch when hydrogen is available and affordable. Infrastructure follows the same logic. Without targeted action, development will stall.
“Green hydrogen is not a solution that will emerge by itself,” says Gert-Jan Nieuwenhuizen, Executive Director New Business at the Port of Amsterdam. “We must be willing to invest in multiple links of the chain at the same time. That is the only way to get the chain moving.”
Don’t wait, build
That is why the Port of Amsterdam has chosen not to wait, but to actively build this system together with its partners. One concrete example is H2avennet: a regional hydrogen network in the Amsterdam port area. Together with Firan Waterstof, the design has been completed and preparations for implementation have begun. The next step is crucial: finding a first producer that will feed green hydrogen into the network. This illustrates exactly how the transition works in practice. Infrastructure cannot function without supply, but supply will only get off the ground when infrastructure is available.
H2avennet is designed to deliberately break this cycle. The network focuses on companies with energy-intensive processes for which electrification is not always feasible. Green hydrogen offers them an alternative to fossil fuels while also helping to reduce pressure on the overloaded electricity grid.
“With H2avennet, we are giving companies in the port area access to green hydrogen through open and scalable infrastructure,” says Nieuwenhuizen. “For many industrial processes, it is an essential alternative for achieving sustainability goals.”
In time, the network could be connected to the national hydrogen network operated by HyNetwork Services. This would create a link between regional production, imports and industrial demand.
From imports to applications
The development is not limited to infrastructure alone. The Port of Amsterdam is also working on international supply, together with partners such as Ecolog and North Atlantic, as well as on stimulating demand. Companies in industry, mobility and logistics are preparing to use hydrogen, while applications such as the Neo Orbis show what this can look like in practice. Step by step, a coherent system is taking shape in which the various links reinforce one another.
What is needed?
To scale up this development, clear framework conditions are needed: stable policy, investment certainty and clear decisions regarding infrastructure. These determine whether projects can actually be realised and whether the market can continue to develop. Practice shows that this progress does not happen automatically, but that it accelerates when public and private parties invest together.
Between promise and reality
“Hydrogen shows what the energy transition is really about,” says Nieuwenhuizen. “It is not only about new forms and carriers of energy, but also about building new systems. Our role in this is clear: not to wait for the market to develop on its own, but to actively contribute to building it.”
By investing now in value chains, infrastructure and applications, a new energy foundation is gradually emerging. It is still incomplete, but it is moving forward. And that is precisely what the transition is about: not a finished end state, but what is already being built today.
