DEI+ subsidy for offshore green hydrogen pilot

Hydrogen

The NetherlandsThe green hydrogen pilot project PosHYdon will receive 3.6 million euros from the Demonstration Energy and Climate Innovation (DEI+) grant fund. PosHYdon is the world’s first offshore green hydrogen pilot on an operational platform. With this grant, the consortium can start the pilot.

PosHYdon integrates three energy systems in the North Sea: offshore wind, offshore gas and offshore hydrogen and will take place on Neptune Energy’s Q13a-A platform. This production platform is the first fully electrified platform in the Dutch North Sea and is located approximately thirteen kilometres off the coast of Scheveningen.

In order to produce green hydrogen, seawater will be converted into demineralised water on the platform. This water is then converted into hydrogen by means of electrolysis. Wind power will be used to produce this green hydrogen. The pilot project aims to gain experience with the integration of working energy systems at sea and the production of hydrogen in an offshore environment. In addition, the researchers are testing the efficiency of an electrolyzer with a variable supply from offshore wind and are building up knowledge of the costs of both the offshore installation and the maintenance.

The green hydrogen will be mixed with the gas and transported to the coast via the existing gas pipeline. The 1 MW electrolyser will produce up to 400 kilos of green hydrogen per day.

System integration North Sea

RenĂ© Peters, Business Director Gas Technologies TNO: ‘PosHYdon is the ultimate example of system integration in the North Sea. Many studies refer to hydrogen as ‘the missing link’ for the energy transition and there is much talk about the possibilities. But here, off the coast of Scheveningen, it is actually going to happen. PosHYdon will teach us a lot about the next steps towards large-scale green hydrogen production at sea’.

Peters continues: Green hydrogen production offshore also makes it possible to develop large-scale wind farms far out to sea. Offshore electrolyzers then convert wind energy directly into green hydrogen, which then reaches the coast via the existing gas infrastructure. As a result, offshore wind projects can be realised faster at significantly lower costs for society.

Jacqueline Vaessen, Managing Director Nexstep, national platform for reuse and dismantling: ‘Together with a number of operators and TNO, this idea came about two years ago from a brainstorming session by the ‘Re-purpose’ working group within Nexstep. We then looked at the best location and decided on Neptune Energy’s Q13a-A. Since that platform is already fully electrified with green energy.

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