The RH2INE Initiative

RH2INE stands for Rhine Hydrogen Integration Network of Excellence and was established in 2019. 

RH2INE is an initiative of the province of Zuid-Holland and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Action and Energy of North Rhine-Westphalia and supported by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management in the Netherlands. Currently the network is being coordinated by the Province of Zuid-Holland and NRW.Energy4Climate. Since 2019 the network is constantly growing, currently consisting of more than 35 public and private stakeholders from the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Germany.  

Rhine Hydrogen Integration Network of Excellence

The overall aim of the network is to establish a zero-emission transport corridor in the Rhine-Alpine region but also creating synergies with bordering waterways (i.e., the Danube) by using hydrogen as an alternative propulsion technology in freight transport, currently focusing on inland shipping. This includes:  

  • creating the conditions for increasing demand and supply as well as an infrastructure for hydrogen application 

  • establishing a cost-efficient, reliable and demand-orientated supply of hydrogen along the Rhine-Alpine corridor 

  • accelerating the implementation and scale-up of hydrogen through standardization, business case development and the provision of appropriate governance tools.  

Green Deal

To this end, RH2INE actively promotes the project implementation, networking, exchange of best practices and know how between various stakeholders from the public and private sector. With its holistic approach RH2INE is addressing various interfaces and thus working to establish a cross-border hydrogen infrastructure network in the region. The transport sector is still responsible for almost a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe and contributes massively to air pollution in cities. Freight transport in particular causes emissions. By switching to sustainable propulsion technologies on one of Europe's oldest transport routes, RH2INE is making an important contribution to achieving European climate targets. With the Green Deal, the European Union has committed to becoming the world's first climate-neutral continent by 2050. RH2INE wants to drive this change in order to keep the Rhine-Alpine corridor economical and livable in the future.

With regions linked together in cross-border cooperation, supported by national governments in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Austria, and within the multilateral EU framework that sets the conditions for further greening, RH2INE truly stands out in providing the practical approach so urgently needed to achieve concrete results in the short term.