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OG (OrangeGas), a supplier of green fuels throughout the Netherlands, signed the agreement with GroenLeven on Thursday, May 20, for the purchase of green hydrogen from the Sinnewetterstof project in Oosterwolde. Preparations for the construction of the project by Alliander have also begun. In this project, Alliander and GroenLeven are developing an installation to convert solar energy from the adjacent solar park into hydrogen. OG will distribute this hydrogen to various filling stations throughout the Netherlands. 

In the Sinnewetterstof project, solar energy is converted into hydrogen using an electrolyzer at times when there is a surplus of solar energy available. In this way, the project contributes to solving the grid congestion problem in the Netherlands. As a result, sustainably generated electricity cannot be returned everywhere. With this hydrogen solution, this generated energy is not lost but can be stored locally in a sustainable form. This is an important step for the future, both for the integration of solar energy in the Dutch energy mix, and for making other sectors such as mobility more sustainable. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has also identified green hydrogen as one of the 5 technological pillars that can contribute to reducing global CO2 emissions.

This pilot project will look at how the electrolyser adapts to the fluctuating generation of the solar park. Willem de Vries, project manager at GroenLeven, explains: "Besides the fact that this project will give us insight into how we can use green hydrogen as renewable energy that can be stored, we are also looking at how the electrolyzer can move with the constantly changing generation from the solar farm. We look forward to learning more about the possibilities of such a plant and what it can mean for the future."

Collaboration is a key ingredient in this pilot project. Peter Paul Weeda, COO GroenLeven, said about this earlier, "If you want the energy transition to succeed, you have to step over your own shadow. You need to understand each other's point of view in order to arrive at solutions. This pilot helps with that."

Progress
Recently, the dots were crossed in the cooperation agreements between GroenLeven and Alliander. They have now started preparations for the construction of the system and are working intensively on the test protocols. Ecological working landscape Ecomunitypark and the municipality of Ooststellingwerf provide the space and opportunities to realize this project. The distribution of the green hydrogen in the new cooperation will be taken care of by OG. OG is a supplier of and builds filling stations exclusively with 100% clean fuels. Marcel Borger, CEO and founder of OG: "This project fits perfectly with our OG Dream vision in which we offer clean fuels from 100% natural Dutch sources. Our customers trust that they will fill up with truly clean fuels at OG. So together with our local own biogas production sites and this green hydrogen project with GroenLeven, we are delivering on the promise to our customers."

Construction of the system is expected to be completed by the end of August.