Opportunities and challenges for Dutch hydrogen
Hydrogen can make an important contribution to a sustainable energy system. At the same time, there is still a great need for new innovations aimed at increasing production capacity or new hydrogen applications. To stimulate that, the Dutch DEI+ grant program will start another separate application round around the theme ‘Hydrogen and Green Chemistry’ in summer 2023. The round will have a grant budget of 40 million Euros. This comes from GroenvermogenNL, an initiative focusing on the (Dutch) hydrogen economy, with funding from the Dutch ‘National Growth Fund’ (NGF).
What projects is the grant call looking for?
In brief, the ‘Hydrogen and Green Chemistry’ grant round offers opportunities for three types of projects: pilot projects, demonstration projects, and infrastructure projects. The latter category is new in 2023 (see explanation below).
All projects must fit within at least one of the following themes:
- Production of hydrogen via water electrolysis (‘electrolysers’). The Netherlands’ ambition is to have 500MW of installed electrolysis capacity by 2025. This requires ‘upscaling’ and new innovative pilot and demonstration projects.
- Transport and storage of hydrogen. This theme involves large-scale energy storage or conversion to other hydrogen carriers (such as LOHC, ammonia, methanol). Regular hydrogen fueling infrastructure is not covered by this grant. However, innovative applications of these hydrogen carriers such as ammonia cracking or other conversion technologies do qualify for the grant.
- Innovative use of hydrogen and green electrons. This targets application of hydrogen as fuel for industry/transport, as feedstock for chemistry, and pilots aimed at direct application of green electrons (in electrochemical reactions and plasma technology).
- Infrastructure. This theme involves building (or upgrading) test and experiment infrastructure. More specifically: facilities and locations that can be used by multiple companies and research organizations to conduct tests and experiments.
Grant amounts, budget, deadline
The grant consists of a contribution to the investment cost of the project in question. A project may have an intended duration of up to 4 years. The submission of grant applications is possible from 3 July 2023 and can be made as long as the budget lasts (40 million Euros), and until no later than 25 June 2024. Because applications are assessed in order of receipt, speed is an important factor here. However: quality is also a factor in the assessment (applications that do not sufficiently match the themes, conditions and priorities of the scheme will be rejected for funding).
Interested parties can participate in the webinar on 4 July 2023 (organized by RVO).
What can PNO Chemistry do for you?
Are you working on hydrogen innovations for the chemical sector? And are you looking for suitable funding and/or technical assistance for your plans? PNO Chemistry has years of expertise, both with funding programs and with hydrogen-related innovation projects. Please do not hesitate to contact us.
