Dutch H3 Alliance Seeks to Capitalise on Oman’s GH2 Value Chain

Holland Hydrogen Hub (H3), representing an alliance of private Dutch businesses with interests spanning the hydrogen value chain, recently showcased cutting-edge technologies that it hopes to leverage to unlock commercial opportunities from Oman’s emerging green hydrogen (GH2) economy. A “demonstration project” encompassing these technologies was made to government officials and business leaders during the recent State Visit of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik to the Netherlands. Holland Hydrogen Hub’s primary mandate is to participate in green hydrogen projects in Oman, among other GCC states, with the output earmarked for local use as well as export to the Netherlands. In the Sultanate, the alliance has been collaborating with Hydrom (the national orchestrator of Oman’s green hydrogen industry) and OQ (the integrated global energy group of Oman).

“At Holland Hydrogen Hub, we’re enabling cross-border business opportunities to accelerate the development of the clean hydrogen value chain,” commented Marcel Kooter, Co-Founder, in a post. “This particular project—carried out in collaboration with Hydrom, OQ, and our H3 partners—aims to showcase how an integrated suite of groundbreaking technologies can produce, store, and transport hydrogen more efficiently and sustainably.” Kooter added: “As part of the state visit of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik of Oman to the Netherlands, we had the honour - together with William Janssen, Ted Straten, and Robert-Jan Berg - to present our demonstration project to Their Majesties King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and Sultan Haitham.” Contributing to the innovative solutions promoted by the alliance partners are as many as six different tech companies focused on one or more aspects of the hydrogen value chain. The list includes Desolenator, a Dutch tech startup credited with developing the world’s first solar thermal desalination solution that works at scale. The company, represented by William Janssen, Founder and Director, harnesses the power of the sun to sustainably transform seawater into drinking water or ultrapure water.

Other Dutch firms taking part in the demo were: Elestor BV (highlighting its advanced hydrogen flow battery for optimized energy storage); Bosal and SolydEra Group (showcasing their high efficiency SOEC electrolysis for superior hydrogen production); HyET Hydrogen BV (for efficient electro chemical hydrogen compression); Voyex (for its proprietary liquid organic hydrogen carrier – LOHC- technology for safe and scalable transport); and SoluForce (for its high pressure Flexible Composite Pipe (FCP or RTP) systems for transport of hydrogen. Ted Straten, Vice President Technology, Strategy and New Business at Bosal, and Robert-Jan Berg, Managing Director – Soluforce, were in attendance at the demo as well. Following last week’s landmark Joint Development Agreement (JDA) on the establishment of the world’s first Liquid Hydrogen Corridor between Oman and Europe, the Netherlands has positioned itself as a first-mover in securing Omani green hydrogen for European markets starting from around 2030. As many as 11 different companies from the Netherlands, Germany and Oman have signed up to this groundbreaking endeavour. They span the shipping, transportation, distribution, terminal operation, aggregation and end-user elements of the hydrogen supply chain.