Industry Update
PosHYdon pilot successfully kicks off onshore testing The PosHYdon pilot successfully kicked off its onshore testing at the InVesta premises in Alkmaar , the Netherlands . PosHYdon aims to produce green hydrogen on an operational gas platform in the Dutch North Sea . This will mark the first integration of three offshore energy systems , where hydrogen will be transported to land along with gas via an existing pipeline .
The pilot is seen as essential for the development of large-scale green hydrogen production at sea , contributing significantly to the energy transition in the Netherlands and Northwest Europe . After this onshore testing period , the electrolyzer will be moved offshore to the Q13a-A platform , located
13 kilometers off the coast of Scheveningen . The first offshore hydrogen production is scheduled for Q4 2024 .
René Peters , Business Director Gas Technologies at TNO and initiator of the North Sea Energy Program , said : “ Offshore green hydrogen production will enable large-scale wind farms to be developed far out at sea . Wind energy is directly converted to green hydrogen from demineralized seawater and can be transported through the existing or new gas infrastructure . As a result , offshore wind projects can be realized faster at significantly lower costs for society . I am therefore very happy that we can now test the complete installation onshore , in preparation for transferring it offshore for the final test : offshore green hydrogen production .”
Elcogen expands manufacturing capacity to 360 MW Elcogen has announced the development of a new factory in Tallinn , Estonia . Located in Loovälja Industrial Park , the new facility will expand the company ’ s solid oxide fuel cell and stack ( SOFC ) and solid oxide electrolyser cell and stack ( SOEC ) manufacturing capacity from 10 MW to 360 MW .
Construction of the 14,000 m ² facility , which is being developed together with Maru Ehitus AS , started at the beginning of January 2024 , with operations scheduled to commence mid-2025 . The facility will deploy the latest technology , featuring customised , automated , and high-output production processes to enable mass manufacturing of solid oxide fuel cell and electrolyser cells and stacks .
Stefano Piscitelli , COO of Elcogen , commented : “ This new cutting-edge facility will boost our manufacturing capacity and generate efficiency gains leading to a remarkable 60 % cost reduction . The scalability of our production technology will enable us to further optimise our cost structure and the factory will also serve as an industrial platform for our global expansion .”
4 Hydrogen Tech World | Issue 16 | June 2024