PosHYdon, First Offshore Green H2 Project Gets DEI+ Subsidy from Dutch Govt

The government of the Netherlands has granted a EUR 3.6 million subsidy to back the PosHYdon pilot project. PosHYdon is an initiative of Nexstep, the Dutch association for decommissioning and reuse, and TNO, the Netherlands organization for applied scientific research, in close collaboration with the industry.

It is claimed to be the world’s first-ever offshore green hydrogen production project, owned by Neptune Energy, an independent international oil and gas exploration and production company with a regional focus on the North Sea, North Africa, and the Asia Pacific.

The pilot project aims to integrate three energy systems in the North Sea: offshore wind, offshore gas, and offshore hydrogen by producing hydrogen from seawater on its Q13, a platform in the Dutch North Sea. The project also aims to gain experience in integrating working energy systems at sea and the production of hydrogen in an offshore environment.

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Speaking on the project, René Peters, Business Director Gas Technologies TNO, and initiator of the North Sea Energy Program said, “PosHYdon is the ultimate example of system integration in the North Sea. It will teach us a lot about the next steps that need to be taken towards safe, large-scale green hydrogen production at sea. Offshore green hydrogen production will enable large-scale wind farms to be developed far out at sea.”

“Wind energy is then directly converted to green hydrogen and can be transported through the existing 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 progress with PosHYdon,” he added.

Electricity generated by offshore wind turbines will be used to power the hydrogen plant on the Q13a-A 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 electrolyzer will produce a maximum of 400 kilograms of green hydrogen per day.

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“Together with many operators and TNO, this idea arose about two years ago from a brainstorming session of the ‘Re-purpose’ working group within 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, said Jacqueline Vaessen, Managing Director of Nexstep.

She further added, “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.”