NS HyMaP Information Bulletin No 17 Published

NS HyMaP publishes fortnightly Information Bulletins with articles of relevance to the North Sea Hydrogen, Ports and Maritime Community. The section below is an introduction to the Bulletin. If you would like to receive the full Bulletins or know more about NS HyMaP, please contact Jon Jordan at [email protected]

This edition of the Bulletin is a rather short one reflecting organisations returning to work after the Christmas break.  It begins with the webinar launch of the Hydrogen Valleys Platform which is supported by the European Commission, Hydrogen Fuel Cell Joint Undertaking (FCH-JU) and Mission Innovation.   The Platform looks at 32 projects with all but eleven located in Europe. The official launch webinar was yesterday.

The Oyster offshore wind to hydrogen project has received FCH-JU funding and this is reviewed in the Bulletin. The project has a partnership that includes Ørsted, Siemens Gamesa, ITM Power, and Element Energy. The project will investigate the feasibility and potential of combining an offshore wind turbine directly with an electrolyser and transporting renewable hydrogen to shore.

An important element of the EU’s Green Deal will be the way in which the EU promotes private investment in sustainable projects and related activities.  In July, the European Commission published its Green Funding Rules. These are described as a ‘taxonomy’ by the European Commission but they have run into difficulties.  By November, they had received much criticism from ten Member States while the Commission’s consultation had sparked many complaints.  The situation is explained in greater detail in the Bulletin.

The Bulletin has been following the progress of the North Sea INTERREG Programme.  The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the eligible area created major problems with the budget and the Programme has now been extended to cover all of the Netherlands and Flanders and the coastal area of North West France as far south as Brittany.

Lastly, the Bulletin turns to the United Kingdom and looks at the creation of the Hydrogen Innovation Network.  As with the Hydrogen Valleys launch, the launch of this Network was marked by a webinar.  During the webinar, Rita Wadey from the UK Government gave an update on the progress of the UK Hydrogen Strategy and the policy developments likely in 2021.  This is outlined in the Bulletin.

Other developments include:

• NS HyMaPhas joined the UK Hydrogen and Innovation Network and the UK Decarbonising Ports and Harbours Network organised by the Knowledge Transfer Network.
• NS HyMaP launched its website in December at www.nshymap.com/home/ and we have now added a News Page.

NS HyMaP New Member

NS HyMaP is pleased to welcome Statkraft as a new Member.  Statkraft is based in Norway and is the largest producer of renewable energy in Europe.  The ports and maritime sector is a key focus area for the Company and it is active in many green hydrogen projects in Scandinavia and North West Europe.

For further details of  the North Sea Hydrogen Ports and Maritime Community (NS HyMaP), please go the the website http://www.nshymap.com/home/