The Northern Netherlands is the first region to receive a subsidy for their so-called Hydrogen Valley. The Northen Netherlands’ subsidy application for a Hydrogen Valley has been approved by the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) of the European Commission. It concerns a subsidy of 20 million euros with a public-private cofunding of 70-80 million euros. This subsidy is intended for the development of a fully functioning green hydrogen chain in the Northern Netherlands. The six-year programme – called HEAVENN – started in January 2020.

HEAVENN is a large-scale programme of demo projects bringing together core elements: production, distribution, storage and local end-use of hydrogen (H2) into a fully-integrated and functioning Hydrogen Valley (H2V), that can serve as a blueprint for replication across Europe and beyond. The projects within the HEAVENN programme are divided into four clusters: Chemical Park Delfzijl, Storage and Built Environment, Emmen Industry, and Green Mobility. The HEAVENN projects are supported by and connected to various studies. Finally, best practices and lessons learned are being collected and translated into a replication model.