"We Give SMEs a Voice in Hydrogen"

Speaking is Daniel Schübel, Senior Policy Officer Energy and Lobby. With his international political experience, he is eager to contribute to the energy transition within the province. “It is one of the greatest societal challenges of this century. Being able to play a role in this for our region motivates me. But of course, I don’t do it alone. The approach and vision are widely supported by the province and Deputy Marian van Dijken.”

Clusters 5 and 6 The province of Groningen is actively committed to the development of a hydrogen network. In addition, it aims to offset declining employment in the gas sector and attract new jobs through hydrogen. Daniel explains: “Several cluster 5 companies are located in the province, for example in Delfzijl and the Eemshaven. There is also cluster 6 activity in the Industriecluster Oost-Groningen. Companies established themselves here because of the availability of natural gas from the Groningen field. Natural gas is distributed from the Eemshaven to the rest of the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, and other European countries, just as hydrogen will be in the future. These companies are major gas consumers. Since their industrial processes cannot be fully or only partially electrified, hydrogen is the only route to full sustainability.”

Necessary Route 

“To meet the sustainability goals, we need to consume less natural gas and emit less. This cannot be achieved through electrification alone,” he explains. “We are hitting the physical limits of the electricity grid, and for some industrial processes, electrification is simply not possible. Additionally, there have been delays in offshore wind projects, and the ambition has been scaled back to a third of the original plans. So, it cannot rely entirely on electricity. That leaves hydrogen. Even though the role of hydrogen is smaller than we thought in 2020, hydrogen is not an easy route, but it is a necessary one.”

Emphatic Voice 

“We want to retain and make our businesses more sustainable,” he continues. “But this is not about big players like Tata Steel, Yara, Dow, or the Chemelot cluster in Limburg. Large cluster 5 companies naturally take a dominant role as stakeholders. We want to take on that role for our local entrepreneurs, which is why we give SMEs an emphatic and strong voice within our networks. For example, local SMEs are not financially able to contribute to the construction of hydrogen infrastructure. It is important that the hydrogen backbone is built well and affordably. That is where we, as a province, take on our role. We are in talks with Brussels and The Hague about how to best organize this for our province. We do this through lobbying together with the three northern provinces via SNN, and in Brussels through, among others, the S3 Hydrogen Valley Partnership and the Raw Critical Materials Alliance. In addition, we work in this area with the province of Drenthe and Getecin Emmen.”

Hydrogen Valley 

Developments in the province itself are underway. Think of the establishment of a Hydrogen Valley through the HEAVENN Hydrogen Valley project, or Phynix, the first autonomous energy hub that will be operational on the quay in Eemshaven as of October 2025. This energy hub is designed and built for offshore conditions and stores excess wind energy in batteries and as green hydrogen. “The province contributes to hydrogen developments in various ways. We grant environmental and building permits, co-finance through schemes from the NPG, and bring stakeholders together. Not everything turns to gold, of course. We can help create all the necessary conditions, but ultimately, companies themselves must take that final step to really get the plans off the ground.”

International Inspiration 

“We are doing everything we can to get the transition moving,” Daniel emphasizes. “In doing so, we try to be enterprising and solution-oriented. We also like to be inspired by neighboring countries that are further along in their developments. That’s why we make trade missions to Germany, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark. We want to learn and collaborate more intensively, using our existing networks such as the North Sea Commission. Several MOUs - memoranda of understanding - have also been signed as a result of these trips. An enthusiastic group joins these trips, including company directors, representatives from educational institutions, research institutes, and provincial administrators.”

Positive Message 

“Nederland Waterstofland tells the realistic story about hydrogen in a positive way, and we support that,” he concludes. “There is a need for a positive message to get business cases off the ground. We are happy to share our provincial successes and perspectives, for example in Brussels and The Hague. You see that a number of provincial players are clearly making their voices heard in the debate, such as the provinces of South Holland, Limburg, and Zeeland. We want to increase our visibility in the national context. For example, we participate in a national lobbying working group for major cities and other provinces. We hope to expand these conversations within Nederland Waterstofland.”