PROJECTS: Emerson to supply its technology to the world's first offshore green hydrogen pilot

US-based automation company Emerson announced on Tuesday that it is developing software and systems to enable safe and efficient operation at PosHYdon, the world’s first offshore green hydrogen production pilot project on an operational gas platform.

 

The UAE-based Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) is a consortium partner in PosHYdon.

 

According to Emerson's press statement, the PosHYdon project aims to validate the integration of offshore wind power and offshore natural gas and hydrogen production at sea, generating renewable fuels by harnessing a green energy source.

 

Neptune Energy-operated platform Q13a-A in the Dutch North Sea will host the project, which will provide insight into electrolyser efficiency from a variable power supply and the cost of installing and maintaining a green hydrogen production plant on an offshore platform, the statement said.

 

Partners in the Q13a-A platform are Neptune Energy (operator and 50 percent), EBN (40 percent) and TAQA Offshore (10 percent), according to past statements from Neptune Energy.

 

Emerson, which is a consortium partner in PosHYdon, said green electricity would be used to simulate the fluctuating supply from wind turbines and power the production process, which will convert sea water into demineralised water and then safely produce hydrogen via electrolysis. The hydrogen is then blended with the natural gas and transported to the coast, via the existing gas pipeline, and fed into the national gas grid.

 

The 1 MW electrolyser is expected to produce up to three tonnes of hydrogen per week, the press statement said.

 

Emerson said it will provide its DeltaV distributed control system, DeltaV safety instrumented system and DeltaV Live operator interface software to manage the desalination and electrolyser units, gas blending and balance of plant equipment.

 

Other consortium partners for PosHYdon incude Nexstep, TNO, Gasunie, Noordgastransport, NOGAT, DEME Offshore, Eneco, Nel Hydrogen, InVesta, Hatenboer, Iv-Offshore & Energy.

 

The project was awarded a €3.6 million grant from The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) under the agency’s Demonstration Energy and Climate Innovation scheme, which invests in renewable energy developments, including hydrogen pilots.

 

The Q13a-A platform is the first fully electrified platform in the Dutch North Sea, and is located approximately 13 kilometres off the coast of Scheveningen.

 

(Writing by SA Kader; Editing by Anoop Menon)