ECHT and Hydrogen of Dutch Origin (H2DO) sign MoU to accelerate offshore green hydrogen on the North Sea

ECHT – Regie in Transitie and Hydrogen of Dutch Origin (H2DO) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to accelerate offshore green hydrogen production on the North Sea as part of the sustainability transformation of the Netherlands and Europe. The partnership brings together ECHT’s system transition and stakeholder expertise with H2DO’s hands-on development of a 30–50 MW offshore green hydrogen demonstrator and the roadmap towards large-scale orange green energy production at sea.

Both partners see offshore green hydrogen as a missing but crucial link in a future-proof energy system, combining electrons and molecules to strengthen energy self-sufficiency, reduce curtailment, boost the role out of offshore wind and make better use of the limited space at sea, whilst preserving ecology.

“ECHT is known for bringing complex transitions back into motion with all stakeholders at the table,” says Patrice Hijsterborg, co-founder and Managing Partner of H2DO. “With this MoU we connect their experience in ecology, stakeholder governance and system thinking with our concrete offshore hydrogen projects. Together we are solution-minded and have a joint can-do mentality: we do not complain or wait. We come with solutions and our mission is to show, not just tell, that the Netherlands can lead the way in offshore energy production, both electrons and molecules, as energy independency will become more and more important in this rapidly changing world.”

Hans Timmers, Managing Director-partner at ECHT, adds: “The energy transition will only succeed if we think and act in integrated systems enabling the multi-use of the space we have. That means electrons plus molecules, energy plus ecology, innovators plus policymakers. In H2DO we see a partner who dares to move first offshore, while keeping all relevant stakeholders on board. This MoU is a forward-looking step to turn vision into concrete projects on the North Sea.”

The two parties will collaborate on stakeholder engagement, sustainable system innovations, ecology integration, and on translating lessons from early projects into scalable models that can be shared with governments, industry and society.