The Q13a-A platform is the first fully electrified platform in the Dutch North Sea, located approximately 13 kilometres off the coast of Scheveningen, the Netherlands. Once the hydrogen-producing plant is installed, a maximum of 400 kilogrammes of green hydrogen can be produced per day. In practice, the production of green hydrogen on this platform will work as follows: electricity generated by offshore wind turbines will be used to power the hydrogen plant on the Q13a-A platform, converting seawater into demineralised water, then into hydrogen via electrolysis. The green hydrogen will be mixed with the gas and transported via the existing gas pipeline to the coast.
Conversion of wind power into hydrogen by means of electrolysis is a way to mitigate the risk of grid overload by bringing wind power into the energy system in the form of molecules instead of electrons. This creates balancing options for the electricity grid by enabling peak shaving, and promotes further growth of wind power capacity far beyond that of the onshore power grid.