Taking its cue from the German government which will be investing over 9 billion euros in green hydrogen as an alternative to fossil fuels, the Port of Rotterdam Authority and Rotterdam Rijn Pijpleiding Maatschappij (RRP) are launching a joint feasibility study into Delta Corridor Pipelines between the Netherlands and Germany.

According to the RRP press release, this pipeline bundle could strengthen the port of Rotterdam’s strategic position in Northwest Europe, offers Chemelot (Limburg) further sustainability opportunities and could potentially develop into an important supply route for German industry which has committed to the further reduction of its carbon emissions.

The study will be executed by a joint project team formed by the Port of Rotterdam Authority and RRP (shareholder Shell, Ruhr Oel and bp), working in partnership with various Dutch Ministries: the Ministry of
Infrastructure and Water Management, Economic Affairs, as well as the Interior and Foreign Affairs. The project team intends to develop a public-private partnership within the chain that will also be open to other parties.

The project team will be building on the results of an initial study into the proposed pipelines performed by the Port Authority, Chemelot (Limburg) and the Dutch state under the header ‘Delta Corridor’. This study also yielded positive indications regarding the possible reinforcement of West-East connections – provided there is a strong enough increase in demand at the German end.

And this now appears to be the case, with Germany’s presentation this year of an ambitious transition plan that involves a total investment value of 9 billion euros. In this plan, a significant share of the associated hydrogen import flows could run via Rotterdam. This hydrogen will be used as both an energy carrier and a feedstock for e.g. petrochemical production and the steel industry.

RRP owns two pipeline systems with a total length of 457-km for the transport of crude oil from Rotterdam to refineries in western Germany and products (diesel, heating oil, jet fuel and naphtha).