Equinor search for potential hydrogen customers months after scrapping pipeline to Germany

OIL AND gas giant Equinor has pushed ahead with plans to market hydrogen in Europe, issuing a call for potential buyers in the EU to register interest.

The Norwegian state-owned company scrapped plans for a hydrogen pipeline between Norway and Germany in September, saying the lack of long-term demand in the EU for their fossil fuel-produced hydrogen made the project unviable.

In collaboration with German gas giant Linde, the new project will see hydrogen produced at a plant in Eemshaven in The Netherlands from Equinor’s large natural gas reserves in the Norwegian continental shelf. This type of hydrogen is known as “blue” hydrogen as it releases CO2 as a byproduct during production. Equinor expects to capture more than 95% of the emitted CO2 and store it permanently under the seabed in Norway. 

It is understood that Equinor will be responsible for transporting and storing the CO2, while Linde will build and co-own the Eemshaven plant. The plant is expected to have capacity to produce 1 GW of hydrogen.

Blue versus green

Unlike blue hydrogen, “green” hydrogen is 100% renewable and can be produced without releasing any greenhouse gases. While more eco-friendly, green hydrogen production is considered to be a more complex process, relying on electrolysis that places heavy demand on water and electricity, leading industry to search for new ways of producing it.

The EU favours reaching viable green hydrogen production as quickly as possible. The bloc’s Renewable Energy Directive has set a target that 42% of all hydrogen used in industry by 2030 must be completely renewable, increasing to 60% by 2035.

Equinor had previously planned to build a pipeline to supply German power stations with Norwegian hydrogen, signing a memorandum of understanding in 2022 with the German energy giant RWE. Equinor said their decision to scrap the plans in September 2024 was made on the basis that long-term contracts for blue hydrogen are not viable under current EU regulations.

Equinor has consistently been critical of the EU’s approach, saying the bloc’s regulations “slow down the development of the hydrogen market”. Last month, CEO Anders Opedal told the company’s annual conference in Oslo: “Customers are not able to sign long-term binding contracts, they cannot afford the green hydrogen or it is simply not available.”

An Equinor spokesperson told TCE: “In addition to regulatory framework, the main challenge is to get the necessary customer base and that there is solid long-term demand for hydrogen to underpin projects. Equinor continues to develop the other hydrogen initiatives and projects in our hydrogen portfolio, which is still early phase.”