Eneco Joins Neptune Energy in World’s First Offshore Green Hydrogen Project
The leading European sustainable energy company, Eneco, is the latest to sign onto the world’s first offshore green hydrogen pilot project, PosHYdon, led by Neptune Energy.
With the project due to start in late 2021, Eneco will supply the PosHYdon pilot project with simulated wind data from its offshore wind farm, Luchterduinen. This wind data will enable specialists on The PosHYdon project to accurately model the use of electricity generated by Luchterduinen. This will then power the electrolysis process of the Q13a platform owned and operated by Neptune Energy.
Managing Director of Neptune Energy, Netherlands branch, Lex De Groot, said: “We are very pleased to welcome Eneco onboard as a partner. Their participation will provide realistic data for the pilot, which in turn delivers better insights for the next stages of the project.
“The goal is to obtain valuable lessons for successfully integrating offshore energy systems to support the acceleration of the energy transition, and the Dutch North Sea is ideally suited for this. The ability to convert energy from windfarms to hydrogen, then transport it via the existing gas infrastructure offers major advantages, particularly for those windfarms located much further offshore.”
Ruben Dijkstra, the Director of Eneco offshore wind, said: “Hydrogen is indispensable in achieving the climate objectives to support sectors such as industry, the built environment and transport in their sustainability. With the possibilities of offshore wind and the enormous potential that the North Sea still offers, hydrogen production in the North Sea is an important element in the energy transition.
“Eneco gladly supports the steps being taken in this direction with the PosHYdon pilot. In addition to the technical aspect of offshore electrolysis, Eneco also has a strong interest in developing green hydrogen certificates and adding hydrogen to the natural gas network.”
PosHYdon is an innovative pilot project started by Nextstep, the Dutch association for decommissioning and reuse, in partnership with TNO, the Netherlands organisation for applied scientific research. This exciting venture aims to integrate three energy systems in the North Sea: offshore wind, offshore hydrogen, and offshore gas.
The PosHYdon pilot project will enable participating companies to develop and progress their understanding of hydrogen production in an offshore environment for future applications or expansion into this renewable energy field.
Eneco’s Luchterduinen wind farm is located approximately 23 kilometres off the coast of Zandvoort, the Netherlands and about 25 kilometres north of the Q13a platform itself. For the PosHYdon project, there is no direct connection between the wind turbines and the platform.
The Q13a platform is the first platform in the North Sea, located near the Dutch coast, 13 kilometres from Scheveningen, to be fully operated by electricity let alone renewable electricity. The seawater involved in the PosHYdon project will be demineralised on this platform to produce hydrogen.
Specifically, according to Offshore Wind, a megawatt electrolyser will be placed within a sea container and installed onto the Q13a platform. The platform will then use the wind power to convert seawater into demineralised water to produce hydrogen.
Astonishingly, according to Offshore Wind, not only is the Q13a platform the first fully electrified offshore oil platform, it will save approximately 16.5 kilotons of CO2 per year, which is equivalent to 115,500 plane journeys from Amsterdam to Paris.