Oil major Total heads hydrogen from floating wind project

The project is being undertaken as part of the EU O/G Decarb innovation project and will run until the end of 2020.

Total E&P Denmark head of development, business and JV management Ole Hansen said, “This is an exciting and innovative project, which Total is supporting because it has the potential to solve one of the challenges of electrifying production platforms using offshore wind produced near the platform.

“By examining how wind and wave energy can be converted into hydrogen, the study can help create a reliable supply of green energy for platforms that can be used on days without wind,” Mr Hansen said.

Working with Total in O/G Decarb are Floating Power Plant in Denmark, the Danish Hydrocarbon Research and Technology Centre (DHRTC), DTU Wind, Hydrogen Valley, the Danish Gas Technology Centre and TechnipFMC. The project is being facilitated by the Energy Innovation Cluster and supported by the European Regional Development Fund.

In addition to ensuring that a production platform could be provided with access to a stable source of renewable energy, the project will also examine the possibility of integrating surplus production of hydrogen into gas sent ashore.

Energy Innovation Cluster chief executive Glenda Napier said, “If we can reduce the climate footprint of energy-intensive oil and gas production while integrating a larger proportion of hydrogen into the natural gas produced, we’ll be a step closer to climate-neutral offshore energy production.”

DHRTC chief executive Morten Willaing Jeppesen said the project is a perfect opportunity to explore the potential for reducing CO₂ emissions from offshore oil and gas production. “It will allow us to identify technology gaps that we need to fill on the journey towards an alternative energy supply,” he said.

Danish Gas Technology Centre chief executive Thea Larsen said, “Power-to-gas is a key component of the future energy system. This project is an interesting opportunity to examine the potential for integrating offshore hydrogen production into existing gas infrastructure.”

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