Developing a hydrogen chain is not for the faint of heart... Higher than expected costs for grid development, limited demand and uncertainty about the energy resource are but a few of the challenges we can read about every day. And yet…. it’s happening. As part of our upcoming event DEVELOPING VALUE CHAINS, we will discuss the actual development of an integrated system around hydrogen. From the production of green and blue hydrogen to transport, storage and offtake.

Alexander Jongenburger, Business Development Manager at Equinor, will kick off the session Developing a hydrogen chain. Alexander has been working in hydrogen since 2017, representing Equinor in the Netherlands on low-carbon hydrogen. Since the start he was part of the H2M project with Vattenfall and Gasunie. He also coordinated Equinor’s partnership in the early phase of H-Vision.
Currently, he is responsible for the stakeholder engagement for H2M Eemshaven, the 1 GW low-carbon hydrogen project that Equinor is developing together with partner Linde. Alexander will talk about the role of and need for blue hydrogen. He will also share his experience in making connections between different building blocks, the role of mutual dependencies and the importance of government taking up a directing role.

Joining Alexander on stage for a panel discussion are Hans Brinkhof, Business Development & Projectmanager Germany, VoltH2; Caroline Kollau, Director of Energy Market, and Deputy Director General Climate and Energy at the Ministry of Climate and Green Growth and Wouter Jacobs, Executive Director, Erasmus Commodity & Trade Centre (ECTC). Together they will discuss how each link in the chain can build its business case, how we can create demand to activate the value chain and what policies are needed to support the development of a robust value chain.

VoltH2 focuses on developing and operating large-scale green hydrogen plants in Europe. This hydrogen is intended for use by local industry and the transport sector. The first two production facilities are currently being developed in Vlissingen and Terneuzen and are expected to be operational in 2026.

Hans Brinkhof, Business Development & Projectmanager Germany, VoltH2 will share his experience with developing VoltH2’s hydrogen plants in Germany, in Wilhelmshaven, Germany’s primary energy hub, in the Ruhr region, and Gelsenkirchen. With the current locations in the Netherlands and Germany, VoltH2 has a portfolio with a potential production capacity of over 500 MW.

Dr Caroline Kollau is Director Energy Markets and deputy Director General Climate and Energy at the Ministry of Climate and Green Growth. Caroline will go into the views of her ministry on blue hydrogen and the position of hydrogen in RED III, the revised Renewable Energy Directive.

Previously, Caroline worked as the director of International Trade at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and held the position of director of Financial Affairs with the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. While at the Ministry of Finance, Caroline was deputy director of Budgetary Affairs and headed the EU sector of the Foreign Financial Relations department. Before returning to the Netherlands, Caroline was in the European I Department of the IMF.

Wouter Jacobs is the founder and executive director of the Erasmus Commodity & Trade Centre (ECTC), a dedicated platform to nurture ideas and talent for tomorrow’s trade. Wouter personally secured the partnership of 14 international companies involved in trade, finance and shipping of commodities. These are Cargill, Shell Trading Rotterdam, Vitol, ING, Cefetra Group, Interfood Group, VARO Energy, Eneco Energy Trade, COUNT. Energy Trading, Trefoil, Rabobank, Garanti BBVA International, HES International and STX.

The ECTC is involved in academic education, professional education & executive development and applied research. Wouter has designed and leads the Leadership in Commodity Trade & Supply Networks executive programme, started in 2019, and for which he set up partnerships with Singapore Management University and the J.P. Morgan Center for Commodities & Energy Management of the University of Colorado.