Green hydrogen producer Lhyfe's Netherlands subsidiary has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with renewable raw materials producer Pioneer Next to explore the potential long-term supply of renewable hydrogen to Perpetual Next’s planned DeltaNor biomethanol production facility in Delfzijl, the Netherlands.

Perpetual Next converts organic waste into high-quality, renewable raw materials such as biomethanol, which is a sustainable alternative to fossil-based methanol. The company is developing large-scale production facilities in the Netherlands, Estonia, and the US.

Biomethanol offers a promising pathway to decarbonise hard-to-electrify sectors, particularly the maritime sector and the chemical industry. By supplementing the hydrogen naturally present in biomass-derived syngas, renewable hydrogen can help convert more of the biogenic carbon into biomethanol, thereby increasing production yields.

Lhyfe already has four installed production sites in Europe, with another two due to be online by the end of the year. 

The company continues its scaling-up with the development of large-scale onsite projects, ranging up to several hundred megawatts. The Netherlands is one of Europe’s most mature markets for green hydrogen, and Lhyfe is actively developing projects there, including this major 120 MW project in Delfzijl.

Perpetual Next is developing DeltaNor as a 220 000-t-a-year biomethanol production facility in the same industrial cluster as one of five biomethanol facilities, which are currently in various stages of development.

Under the MoU, Lhyfe Delfzijl and Perpetual Next will assess the potential integration of renewable hydrogen from Lhyfe’s planned Delfzijl renewable hydrogen production facility with Perpetual Next’s DeltaNor facility.

The partners target a potential supply of up to about 12 000 t/y of renewable hydrogen. Any supply arrangement would be subject to further technical and commercial evaluation.

In terms of location, Delfzijl is home to a significant industrial and chemical industry and is already a large user of hydrogen as a chemical feedstock.

That need is set to grow significantly in the future as decarbonisation will become unavoidable in the long term, in particular under the revised Renewable Energy Directive, which requires Member States to ensure that renewable hydrogen accounts for a minimum share of industrial hydrogen consumption by 2030 and 2035.

Perpetual Next CEO René Buwalda comments that access to competitively priced renewable hydrogen will be an important consideration in the continued development of DeltaNor. "This MoU gives both companies a structured framework to evaluate how locally produced renewable hydrogen could support our biomethanol facility while strengthening the development case for both projects.”

Lhyfe chief strategy officer Luc Graré says the MoU agreement reflects the strong industrial complementarity between Lhyfe's renewable hydrogen project in Delfzijl and Perpetual Next’s biomethanol development. "It illustrates the growing role of renewable hydrogen in decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors.

"We look forward to working together to demonstrate the synergies between the two projects within the Delfzijl industrial cluster and to strengthen their respective industrial cases, including in the context of the public support schemes required to enable their development," he states.