The AquaVentus initiative continues to grow. This represents a great opportunity for the envisaged climate-neutral national and European energy system.
Helgoland/ Berlin – On the way to climate neutrality, no one can avoid green hydrogen, neither internationally nor nationally. The AquaVentus initiative notices this, too, with eight new members signing on last month. This brings the number of members of the AquaVentus Förderverein to 79. “The interest in AquaVentus and the vision of 1 million tons of green hydrogen from the North Sea continues unabated,” says Jörg Singer, chairman of the board of the sponsoring association and co-initiator of the project. “Our holistic concept, from hydrogen production by offshore electrolysis, to -transport by pipeline, to use on Helgoland in the heating sector and as ship propulsion in the form of LOHC (“Liquid-Organic-Hydrogen-Carriers”), is convincing many national and international companies as well as research institutes,” he emphasizes. “This means that on the one hand we are a showcase for new technologies, and on the other hand we offer German and European policymakers a concrete implementation project for the production of large quantities of green hydrogen by 2035,” explains Singer.
The newcomers come from pipeline operations, oil and gas production, consulting, offshore installation and power-to-X. A lot of support is coming from the Netherlands.
Expertise in pipeline operations and offshore production
Two Dutch pipeline owners and operators are new to the event: NOGAT BV and NGT BV (Noordgastransport), and the oil and gas production company Neptune Energy Netherlands.
NOGAT is also the name of a gas pipeline system in the Dutch North Sea that the company operates. The pipelines also supply gas from Denmark and Germany to Den Helder in the Netherlands, among other places. The Dutch gas transporter NGT operates a pipeline network of around 500 km in the North Sea. The company also liquefies large quantities of the transported gas.
Neptune Energy Netherlands is part of the internationally active Neptune Energy Group, with operations in Europe, North Africa and Asia-Pacific. The Group mainly produces oil and gas. Through platform Q13a-A, off the coast of The Hague, Neptune Energy Netherlands is also involved in PosHYdon. The pilot project is testing the production of green hydrogen using electricity from offshore wind on a central platform in the sea. Neptune Energy, NOGAT and NGT (Noordgastransport) are all members of the PosHYdon consortium.
Saipem is also globally positioned. Based in Italy, the company specializes in the installation, construction and commissioning and dismantling of onshore and offshore platforms and foundations. Saipem’s main objective is to support customers who contribute to the expansion of renewable energies.
Reinforcement for technical consulting and planning
Founded in Denmark in 1945, Ramboll is an international engineering, management and architectural consulting firm. Ramboll has proven consulting expertise in hydrogen, offshore wind, and oil and gas. The portfolio ranges from concept development to implementation planning.
Another newcomer is Gicon-Großmann Ingenieur Consult, based in Dresden. The consulting and planning office offers engineering services and expert special services in the fields of plant and construction planning, environmental and approval planning, technical informatics as well as research and technology development.
Offshore construction and sector coupling
The Dutch company Heerema Marine Contractors SE is one of three Heerema companies and specializes in the transport, installation and dismantling of offshore infrastructure.
“Last but not least”, a young company from Berlin, Ptx Development GmbH, is also newly on board. It is a merger of CILIX Asset Management, GP JOULE and Undkrauss Baugesellschaft. Ptx Development’s goal is to produce hydrogen using electricity from wind power and photovoltaics. To this end, the company would like to acquire land for green power plants to be built or for existing plants.
