Dubbed the PosHYdon project, it is the world’s first attempt to produce green hydrogen at sea using energy from offshore wind farms, which will then be transported to shore via existing gas pipelines
The PosHYdon project, a collaborative effort between multiple partners to explore the potential of producing green hydrogen on a platform at sea using energy generated by offshore wind farms has been awarded a subsidy of €3.6 million by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. The project is the first attempt of its kind in the world to convert wind energy directly into green hydrogen and transport it via a pre-existing gas infrastructure.
PosHYdon will use a platform called Q13a-A developed by Neptune Energy to host the electrolyser at sea. The electrolyser will produce hydrogen which will be mixed with gas and transported to shore via gas pipelines. The project’s expected capacity is producing 400 kg of green hydrogen per day using a 1MW electrolyser. The platform is also the first of its kind: an offshore electrolyser located approximately 13 kilometers off the coast of Scheveningen (The Hague). PosHYdon has been conceived as part of the North Sea Energy Program.
Rene Peters, Business Director of Gas Technologies, TNO, and a co-founder of the North Sea Energy Program said: “PosHYdon is the ultimate example of system integration in the North Sea. Offshore green hydrogen production will enable large-scale wind farms to be developed far out at sea. As a result, offshore wind projects can be realized faster at significantly lower costs for society. I am therefore very happy that we can now progress with PosHYdon.”
Jacqueline Vaessen, the Managing Director of Nexstep (a national platform to decommission and reuse oil and gas infrastructure in the Netherlands) said: “Together with a number of operators and TNO, this idea arose about two years ago from a brainstorming session of the ‘Re-purpose’ working group within Nexstep. This award is a crown on the preparatory work. I am therefore extremely proud PosHYdon is now ready for this important next phase.”
PosHYdon will fulfill a number of objectives. In addition to testing whether green hydrogen can be produced using offshore energy, it will also enable the partners involved to understand the challenges in producing hydrogen in an offshore environment. The efficiency of an electrolyser to work with a variable energy supply will also be tested. The project will also clarify the costs involved in developing and maintaining an offshore installation.
Join our event on Power-to-X (PtX) 2021!
