Amsterdam and Tata Steel want to build a large hydrogen plant

The port authorities of Amsterdam Municipality, Tata Steel and Nouryon (the Akzo Nobel division) planned to build a large hydrogen plant at the Tata Steel site in IJmuiden. The plant has to produce 15,000 tons of hydrogen a year.

With electrolysis (flow), the water can be broken down into oxygen and hydrogen. This last substance can then be used as fuel (green), in this case for steel production.

40 000 households

Tata wants to use hydrogen to make steel production more sustainable. The company plans to emit 350,000 tons of CO2 less. This equates to the CO2 emissions of 40,000 households.

At present, the company emits more than 6 megatonnes of CO2. This makes it the biggest polluter in the Netherlands after the RWE coal-fired power plant in Eemshaven.

The three parties wish to make a final decision concerning the plant in 2021. The construction must then be completed two or three years later.

Hydrogen is considered an important pillar of the climate agreement being negotiated. It can serve as fuel for the industry, heavy transportation, but in the future it will also replace natural gas to heat homes. Nouryon has a lot of experience in this field, but on a much smaller scale than necessary in the future.