Neptune Energy today announced it has joined the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance, supporting the development of the EU’s hydrogen strategy.

The alliance was launched last week, bringing together industry, public authorities and civil society. It is part of the EU's strategy to support efforts for Europe to become carbon neutral by 2050. 

The Netherlands is particularly well-positioned to lead the transition to a hydrogen economy, given the abundance of wind energy and existing infrastructure at sea and on land for the transport of gas and hydrogen molecules. With Neptune’s PosHYdon project, electricity generated by offshore wind turbines will be used to power a hydrogen plant on the Neptune-operated Q13a platform, converting seawater into demineralized water, then into hydrogen via electrolysis.

Lex de Groot, Managing Director of Neptune Energy in the Netherlands, said: 
“There is a growing consensus internationally that hydrogen will be required at scale in order for countries to meet the ambitious targets set out by the Paris Agreement.

“Hydrogen offers a solution to lower emissions in many hard-to-abate sectors, such as steel and heavy-duty transport. It can provide long-term energy storage at scale, support improvements in air quality and strengthen energy security.

“We believe hydrogen should play an important role in enabling decarbonisation and are already advancing efforts through our PosHYdon pilot, the world’s first offshore green hydrogen project. We see strong, positive opportunities for hydrogen to play an important role in future energy supply.”

PosHYdon pilot

The PosHYdon pilot 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.

The aim of the pilot is to gain experience of integrating working energy systems at sea and the production of hydrogen in an offshore environment. The Q13a is the first fully electrified platform in the Dutch North Sea, located approximately 13 kilometres off the coast of Scheveningen (The Hague).

Partners in the Q13a platform are: EBN B.V. (40%) and TAQA Offshore B.V. (10%).

KeyFacts Energy: Neptune Energy Netherlands country profile