Air Products to build Europe’s largest blue hydrogen plant in the Netherlands

Air Products will build a facility to capture and process carbon dioxide (CO2) at its existing hydrogen production plant in Rotterdam. The facility, which the company will also own and operate, is expected to begin operating in 2026. Once it is up and running, the Rotterdam plant will become Europe’s largest producer of so-called blue hydrogen, the company announced.

Hydrogen is one of the most abundant elements in the universe, but traditional methods of producing it on a large scale release significant amounts of carbon dioxide. Like traditional grey hydrogen, blue hydrogen is produced from natural gas, but the process is supplemented with carbon capture and storage technology. It is therefore considered a cleaner alternative.

The blue hydrogen produced at the company’s plant in Rotterdam will supply Exxon Mobil’s refinery and other customers. Air Products supplies industrial gases to a range of sectors, from electronics and manufacturing to food and beverage production.

Major industries, including the energy, steel and chemical sectors, are looking for ways to switch to hydrogen as a fuel and help reduce carbon dioxide emissions, Reuters reported. Another option besides blue hydrogen is green hydrogen, which is produced using renewable electricity and is considered a clean alternative to natural gas for the steel and chemical industries.

Air Products added that the facility will capture carbon dioxide not only from its existing hydrogen production plant, but also from Exxon Mobil’s refinery in Rotterdam.

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