The onshore tests for the PosHYdon project, which aims to produce green hydrogen on an operational gas platform in the Dutch North Sea, have started in the Netherlands.
The PosHYdon pilot kicked off the onshore test successfully at the premises of InVesta, one of the partenrs in the project, in Dutch city of Alkmaar.
In the PosHYdon project, three offshore energy systems - offshore wind, offshore gas and offshore hydrogen - will be integrated for the first time to transport hydrogen 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 the testing period onshore, the electrolyzer will be transferred offshore to Neptune Energy’s Q13a-A platform, 13 kilometers off the coast of Scheveningen, in the Hague. The first offshore hydrogen production is planned for the fourth quarter this year.
To remind, Eni and its majority-owned Vår Energi have completed the acquisition of Neptune Energy back in February 2024. Eni is in charge of Neptune Energy’s Dutch assets.
“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.
“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,” said René Peters, Business Director Gas Technologies TNO and initiator of the North Sea Energy Program.
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.
The PosHYdon consortium comprises 15 public and private organizations including 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 are Neptune Energy (operator and 50%), EBN (40%) and TAQA Offshore (10%).