Neptune Energy partners with Eneco on PosHYdon

Dutch energy company Eneco has joined as a partner the PosHYdon pilot, the world’s first offshore green hydrogen project, Neptune Energy said.

Eneco will supply simulated wind data from its Luchterduinen offshore wind farm to support the project which aims to integrate three energy systems in the North Sea: offshore wind, offshore gas, and offshore hydrogen.

The data will be used to accurately model the use of electricity generated by the wind farm to power the electrolysis process using seawater on the Q13a platform operated by Neptune Energy. The seawater is demineralized on the platform in order to produce hydrogen.

“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,” Lex de Groot, Managing Director of Neptune Energy in the Netherlands, said.

“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.”

The Luchterduinen wind farm is located approximately 23 kilometres off the coast of Zandvoort / Noordwijk and about 25 kilometres north of the Q13a platform. There will be no direct connection between the wind turbines and the platform for the pilot.

Ruben Dijkstra, Director Offshore Wind for Eneco, said: “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 initiative of Nexstep, the Dutch association for decommissioning and reuse, and TNO, the Netherlands organisation for applied scientific research, in close collaboration with the industry.

Eneco is the latest partner to join the pilot, following Gasunie, Noordgastransport BV, and NOGAT BV.