This first section links Maasvlakte 2, set to host Shell’s Holland Hydrogen I production project, with Pernis and the wider port, positioning Rotterdam as a European energy gateway connected to Germany, Belgium, and the rest of the Netherlands.

The state-owned Dutch gas infrastructure company highlighted the engineering challenge it had to overcome. “The route had to navigate a dense landscape of roads, railways, waterways and hundreds of existing pipes and cables.”

Gasunie said that coordinating this, especially with the parallel construction of the Porthos CO2 pipeline, was a major logistical feat. For 14km, the two pipelines are only 40cm apart.

While Shell will be the first company to connect to the Hynetwork, “they will definitely not be the only one,” Gasunie said.

“There will be a valve system with four connections at each end of this pipeline, serving both hydrogen suppliers and consumers,” it added in a statement. “The pipeline will also have six branches at strategic points, which other parties can connect to later.”

The milestone comes almost a year after Gasunie pushed back the completion of the full Dutch hydrogen backbone to 2033 amid permitting and staffing hurdles.

H2 View understands that the government only formally allocated funding to Gasunie for the first 1,200km of the network in 2022/23, after discussions around cost recovery.