Two more offshore wind-to-green hydrogen projects have kicked off in Europe, in the UK and in Germany
In Germany, RWE, Shell, Gasunie and Equinor have signed a declaration of intent to intensify collaboration on the ‘AquaSector’ project, a vision of the first large-scale offshore hydrogen facility in German waters. The project aims to demonstrate that offshore production enables efficient, cost-effective and sustainable production of green hydrogen.
The partners intend to install 300-MW of electrolyser capacity to produce up to 20,000 tonnes per year of green hydrogen offshore. The green hydrogen would be transported via a pipeline, AquaDuctus, to Heligoland starting in 2028.
The partners see the AquaSector project as a ‘proof of concept‘ for the realisation of the AquaVentus vision of producing up to 10 GW of green hydrogen offshore by 2035 and transporting it via an extended pipeline to mainland Germany. The pipeline could replace five HVDC transmission systems that would otherwise have to be built.
In the UK, University of Strathclyde is leading the £10M (US$14M) multi-disciplinary Ocean Renewable Energy Fuels (Ocean-REFuel) project, which will explore ways of converting offshore wind energy into fuels for use in heating, energy storage and difficult to decarbonise transport applications.
The consortium undertaking the project includes research teams from the universities of Nottingham, Cardiff, Newcastle and Imperial College London. The project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, industry, and the partner universities, who have also pledged nine linked PhD studentships. The five-year collaboration – which involves 28 industrial partners including BP, Scottish Power, National Grid, ENI along with the UK Health & Safety Executive, will also produce a Blueprint for the first integrated Ocean Renewable Fuel production facility.
The project will examine the potential to use offshore wind and other sources of energy to produce green hydrogen and ammonia. A 2020 report from the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult claimed that even if only offshore wind-to-hydrogen is considered, the exports to Europe alone could reach an annual value of up to £48Bn.
Minister for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change, Anne-Marie Trevelyan said, “The waters around the UK offer abundant prospects for clean energy. Ensuring we can tap the full potential of our natural resources will be vital in meeting our bold climate change commitments.
“As shown through our world-leading offshore wind sector, we are not only capitalising on the clean energy potential around our coastline but also the opportunities for investment, jobs creation and regional growth. Projects like Ocean-REFuel are helping us fulfil that potential as we build back greener.”
University of Strathclyde head of naval architecture, ocean and marine engineering Professor Feargal Brennan, who is also Ocean-REFuel project lead said, “The Ocean-REFuel project has come at precisely the right time to build on the successes of offshore wind and has the potential to create a step-change in how we consider our whole energy system.”
Ocean-REFuel project builds on Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) investment of more than £35M into offshore wind power over the past decade. EPSRC deputy director cross-council programmes Dr Lucy Martin said, “The UK is the world’s largest producer of offshore wind energy but there is vast potential yet to be tapped into, as outlined in the Prime Minister’s plan to quadruple the amount we produce by 2030 including the opportunity to use offshore wind to help meet our green hydrogen production needs.
“By addressing key research challenges to the wider use of offshore wind energy and integrating it into green hydrogen production, the Ocean-REFuel project will help us to engineer the radical energy transition needed to deliver on our net-zero commitment and also enhance the sustainability and resilience of the UK energy system.”
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