Clean transport in the northern Netherlands provinces of Groningen and Drenthe: Hydrogen refueling station Delfzijl

Source: the original version of this case study can be found here.

In 2014, the provinces of Groningen and Drenthe in the north of the Netherlands received a subsidy from the Dutch government for the operation of two hydrogen-powered buses for regional public transport as part of a pilot project. Green hydrogen produced as a by-product in a chemical plant in the region could be used as fuel for these buses. A public-private consortium asked TotalEnergies* to design, build, maintain and operate a cost-effective hydrogen filling station.

Green hydrogen pilot project 

The pilot project serves as a test case for running buses on hydrogen. The hydrogen comes from the specialty chemicals company Nouryon (formerly part of AkzoNobel) as a by-product of chlorine production. The hydrogen is produced by electrolysis using electricity generated by wind power. As such it is renewable and green, which is unique for the Netherlands. It therefore made perfect sense to use this local green hydrogen for the project. 

Public and private sector collaboration

 
In order to realise public transport by hydrogen bus in the region, a consortium was set up with parties from the public and private sectors. This included the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, the Province of Groningen, the Public Transport Agency Groningen-Drenthe, Qbuzz, AkzoNobel, and Groningen Seaports. The project was later connected to the European High V.LO-City programme co-funded by the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH-JU). The aim of this programme is to accelerate the introduction of hydrogen cell buses. 

The challenge

For this project, the team had to overcome several challenges: 

• The quality of the hydrogen had to be guaranteed. 
• The delivery of the buses had to be coordinated with the completion of the refueling station.  
• The hydrogen refueling station had to be realised as cost-effectively as possible. 

In addition, close cooperation between TotalEnergies* and Qbuzz in the operational phase was crucial for the success of the project. Only then is it possible to properly facilitate the refueling of the buses. Communication about the availability of the buses and the refueling station was also essential. 

The approach

 
Oskar Voorsmit, business development manager hydrogen at TotalEnergies: "In order to realise a cost-effective and well-functioning hydrogen station, we took on the role of system integrator. Meeting the requirements of the various stakeholders involved was very important. We designed a tailor-made station and were constantly looking for the right balance between the needs of the end users and the integral costs of the filling station". 

Requests versus costs

 "In the initial phase, we worked closely with the members of the consortium to identify the various possibilities and requirements. Based on this and after weighing up the requirements against the costs, we made a tailor-made design for the refueling station in line with the available budget," thus Voorsmit.