PosHYdon: onshore test kicks off successfully

The PosHYdon pilot kicked off the onshore test successfully at the premises of InVesta in Alkmaar. PosHYdon aims to produce green hydrogen on an operational gas platform in the Dutch North Sea. It will be the first time that three offshore energy systems will be integrated and hydrogen is transported to land together with gas via an existing pipeline. The pilot is essential for the development of large-scale production of green hydrogen at sea and thus for the energy transition in the Netherlands and Northwest Europe. After this testing period onshore, the electrolyzer will be transferred offshore to the Q13a-A platform, 13 kilometers off the coast of Scheveningen (The Hague). First offshore hydrogen production is planned for Q4 this year.

René Peters, Business Director Gas Technologies TNO and initiator of the North Sea Energy Program said: “PosHYdon is a perfect example of system integration in the North Sea. In many studies, hydrogen is considered the missing link in the energy transition, with many talking about all the opportunities. But here, right off the coast of Scheveningen, it will actually take place later this year. PosHYdon is teaching us a lot about the next steps that need to be taken towards safe, large-scale green hydrogen production from wind at sea. Offshore green hydrogen production will enable large-scale wind farms to be developed far out at sea. Wind energy is directly converted to green hydrogen from demineralized seawater and can be transported through the existing or new gas infrastructure.
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 test the complete installation onshore, in preparation for transferring it offshore for the final test: offshore green hydrogen production.”

In addition, PosHYdon will also participate in a pilot for Guarantees of Origin for green hydrogen and the upcoming migration towards European hydrogen certification. This pilot, also open to others, is being planned via HyXchange. Neptune Energy (Eni) participated before in the HyXchange certification pilot in 2022.

About PosHYdon

In the PosHYdon project, a significant number of lessons are being learned about the offshore production of green hydrogen. This makes the project essential for a smooth roll-out towards large-scale production, as envisaged with the Esbjerg ambitions for 2050.

PosHYdon seeks to validate the integration of three energy systems in the Dutch North Sea: offshore wind, offshore gas and offshore hydrogen and will involve the installation of hydrogen-producing plant on the Neptune Energy (Eni)-operated Q13a-A platform. This platform was the first fully green electrified platform in the Dutch North Sea.

The green hydrogen will be blended with the gas and transported to the coast via the existing gas pipeline. To this end, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy has increased the blending specifications from 0.02% to 0.5% hydrogen. The 1 MW electrolyser will follow the wind profile of  the Luchterduinen wind farm.

Timeline

• May 2024 – test PosHYdon at InVesta, Alkmaar
• Second half of 2024 – PosHYdon live

Consortium partners 

The PosHYdon consortium comprises 15 public and private organisations: Nel Hydrogen, InVesta, Hatenboer, Iv-Offshore & Energy, Emerson, Nexstep, TNO, Neptune Energy Netherlands (Eni), Gasunie, Noordgastransport, NOGAT, DEME, TAQA, Eneco and EBN.

Partners in the Q13a-A platform: Neptune Energy (operator and 50%), EBN B.V. (40%) and TAQA Offshore B.V. (10%).