Work on Dutch Offshore Wind-to-Hydrogen Pilot Project Kicks Off as Gov’t Grants Subsidy

The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) has awarded a subsidy of EUR 3.6 million to the PosHYdon offshore green hydrogen pilot project, allowing for the start of activities to bring the project to life.

The remaining budget necessary to realise the project will be funded by the consortium behind the pilot. According to earlier information from the consortium, PosHYdon is expected to begin production later this year.

The project, which will integrate offshore wind, offshore gas and hydrogen production, is the world’s first offshore green hydrogen pilot on a working platform, according to the project consortium.

PosHYdon seeks to validate the integration of the three energy systems in the Dutch North Sea and will involve the installation of hydrogen-producing plant on the Neptune Energy-operated Q13a-A platform, located approximately 13 kilometres off the coast of Scheveningen (The Hague).

Electricity generated by offshore wind turbines will be used to power the hydrogen plant on the platform, converting seawater into demineralized water, then into hydrogen via electrolysis.

The green hydrogen will be mixed with the gas and transported via the existing gas pipeline to the coast.

The 1 MW offshore electrolyser, to be delivered by Norwegian company NEL Hydrogen, will produce a maximum of 400 kilograms of green hydrogen per day.

The aim of the pilot is to gain experience of integrating working energy systems at sea and the production of hydrogen in an offshore environment.

In addition, the project will test the efficiency of an electrolyser with a variable supply from offshore wind and at the same time obtain knowledge and insights on the costs for the offshore installation as well as maintenance costs.

The PosHYdon pilot is an initiative of Nexstep, the Dutch association for decommissioning and reuse, and TNO, the Dutch organisation for applied scientific research, in collaboration with the industry.

“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”, said Jacqueline Vaessen, Managing Director of Nexstep.

“We looked at what the best location would be to host this pilot and then arrived at Neptune Energy’s Q13a-A, since that platform is already fully electrified using green electricity. Then the pioneering and search for suitable consortium partners began. This award is a crown on the preparatory work. I am therefore extremely proud PosHYdon is now ready for this important next phase”.

Along with Nexstep and TNO, the PosHYdon consortium includes: DEME Group, Neptune Energy, Gasunie, Eneco, TAQA, EBN B.V., NAM, NOGAT B.V., Noordgastransport B.V., Nel Hydrogen, InVesta, Hatenboer, IV-Offshore & Energy and Emerson Automation Solutions.