Wintershall Dea develops blue hydrogen project in Germany

Oil and gas company proceeds with Wilhelmshaven development despite government’s reluctance to support blue hydrogen

Independent oil and gas producer Wintershall Dea is developing a blue hydrogen project on Germany’s North Sea coast at the port of Wilhelmshaven. The Bluehynow project aims to produce more than 200,000m³/hr of hydrogen from Norwegian gas piped in via two nearby landing points. Carbon dioxide from the plant will be shipped to offshore locations in Norway and Denmark and stored under the seabed in underground reservoirs, according to Wintershall. Germany’s hydrogen strategy is highly supportive of green hydrogen, but the government has signalled it will not offer direct support to projects for the blue variety—though it will accept imports of blue hydrogen from Norway for a transitional period