Photo by Matt Brown
Dutch gas producer ONE-Dyas has started operating the first natural gas production platform in the Dutch and German North Sea to be powered by offshore wind energy, after completing an electricity cable connection to Germany’s Riffgat offshore wind farm.
The N05-A platform, developed together with partners EBN and Tenaz Energy, is now producing gas using power supplied from the offshore wind facility, marking a milestone in efforts to cut emissions from North Sea gas production.
The cable connection between ONE-Dyas’ N05-A platform, which is located about 20 kilometres north of the islands of Borkum, Rottumerplaat, and Schiermonnikoog in the Dutch sector of the North Sea, and the Riffgat German offshore wind farm is now complete and being used to produce natural gas. As a result, this gas extraction platform is now considered to be the first one powered by offshore wind energy in the Dutch and German North Sea realms.
The platform has been producing natural gas for several months from a single Dutch well, and drilling of a second well is expected to begin shortly. The mobile drilling unit that will be temporarily connected to N05-A has been converted to run fully on electric power, allowing both production and drilling to take place with minimal carbon emissions.
Electrification of the platform reduces greenhouse gas emissions to near zero, supporting climate targets while maintaining domestic gas supply during the energy transition.
The N05-A platform can produce two billion cubic metres of natural gas per year, equivalent to 7% of Dutch demand and more than 2.5% of German demand.
Chris de Ruyter van Steveninck, CEO of ONE-Dyas, said: “As long as there is demand for natural gas, we will take our responsibility together with the Dutch and German governments. The electrification of N05-A increases the sustainability of North Sea natural gas and helps to reduce our reliance on imported natural gas from countries on which we do not wish to be fully dependent.”
He added: “It is a powerful signal that the Netherlands and Germany are fully committed to local gas production in the North Sea. The volumes from N05-A and surrounding fields adjacent fields are contributing significantly to enhancing our self-sufficiency.”
The project aligns with Dutch and German government policy aimed at sustaining domestic gas production in the North Sea while reducing reliance on imports during the energy transition. With gas demand in 2024 being approximately 75 billion cubic metres in Germany and around 30 billion cubic metres in the Netherlands, the development of the gas fields in the GEMS area is fully aligned with government policy.
Germany and the Netherlands signed a bilateral agreement in August 2025 to support gas supply security for households and businesses and to strengthen the European gas market.
The electrification of the N05-A platform via a cable from the nearby 113.4 MW Riffgat offshore wind farm is expected to reduce carbon emissions by over 85% throughout the project’s duration.
The platform is part of the GEMS (‘Gateway to the Ems’) project, whose focus is the development of field N05-A and other fields in the area, situated in the waters on the border of Netherlands and Germany. The Dutch-German energy project is believed to be strategically located in the border area in the North Sea, where several small fields together contribute to a stable energy supply for the Netherlands and Germany.