A Dutch project has completed what it calls the first production of green hydrogen on an operational North Sea platform.
Led by a consortium of energy companies, infrastructure operators, and technology providers, the PosHyDon pilot project aims to validate and identify the requirements of electrolyser operation at sea.
Located 13km off the coast of Scheveningen, the Q13a-A platform combines offshore wind power with seawater demineralisation and electrolysis to generate the molecule.
While the volume of hydrogen produced was not disclosed, nor the facility’s prospective full capacity output, prior communications outlined production of 500kg per day via a 1.25MW containerised electrolyser from Norwegian manufacturer Nel.
H2 View has reached out for confirmation.
Announcements from 2021 suggest that once the project is fully operational, it will be blended with natural gas for transportation via existing pipelines to the Netherlands Coast.
Rene Peters, Business Director of Energy Infrastructure at the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research, said the project will provide knowledge and experience essential to scaling up offshore hydrogen production.
Due to higher and more consistent wind speeds, proponents believe offshore production could boost capacity factors and reduce electricity costs, which can account for up to 70% of green hydrogen production costs.
However, critics note offshore hydrogen production remains costly and technically complex compared with expanding onshore grid capacity.
This week, ground investigations were launched on the AquaDuctus North Sea subsea hydrogen pipeline, intended to link the European mainland with offshore hydrogen production.
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