Its generating capacity reached its highest known level of 17.2 gigawatts on December 18, 2020. Furthermore, wind capacity posted its highest margin in UK power production when it hit 60% on August 26. And it happens that, on certain occasions, huge offshore wind generators pump much more electricity than the country needs, such as during the first quarantine due to covid-19 last year, when the electricity demand decreased due to the suspension of certain industries. The initiative What we intend to do is to generate hydrogen directly from that offshore wind, says Stephen Matthews, project leader on the subject at ERM, a UK sustainability consultancy.
His initiative, called Dolphin, aims to equip floating wind turbines with equipment to desalinate seawater and electrolyzers to divide the resulting freshwater into oxygen and hydrogen. The idea of using excess wind energy to produce this element aroused great interest, especially as governments seek to move towards greener energy systems in the next 30 years, following the terms of the Paris climate agreement. Hydrogen is expected to be an important component in these systems and can be used in vehicles or power plants. Matthews says his company’s project is just underway, with a prototype system that will use a floating wind turbine of approximately 10 megawatts of capacity.
However, this technology has not yet been built. The system may be installed in Scottish waters and the goal is to start producing hydrogen around 2024 or 2025.The race
There are many other companies interested in this area besides the Dolphin project. Wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa and energy company Siemens Energy are already investing around the US $ 145 million in developing a marine turbine with a built-in electrolyzer. For its part, the German energy company Tractebel is exploring the possibility of building a large-scale offshore hydrogen production plant,, and Neptune Energy, also based in the United Kingdom, is looking to convert an oil platform into a hydrogen production station. which will pump the element to the Netherlands through pipelines that currently carry natural gas.
While this enthusiasm around hybrid wind power and hydrogen generation systems is due in part to climate commitments, the economy is also involved. Large-scale hydrogen electrolyzers are becoming more accessible and wind turbine installation costs have fallen “dramatically,” explains James Carton, professor of sustainable energy at Dublin City University. He and other experts believe that the time is right to start the so-called large-scale hydrogen electrolysis at sea, although the idea goes back many years. Oyster is yet another project in this area and involves a consortium of companies that includes the Danish energy company Orsted and the British electrolyzer specialists ITM Power, among others. In the first instance, in this initiative, a wind turbine will power an electrolyzer on land that will produce hydrogen. The device will be exposed to sea fog to simulate, to some extent, the harsh environment that marine crews face.
ITM intends to design a system compact enough to operate with a single wind turbine. The CEO of this company, Graham Cooley, points out that it is much easier to store molecules such as hydrogen than electrons in batteries.” All renewable energy companies realized that they have a new product available and can now supply renewable molecules to the gas grid and industry,” he adds. The Oyster consortium expects to expose its system in 18 months. Uses and difficulties. Among the many potential uses of hydrogen is the fuel for gas boilers in homes. It can also be used to convert domestic gas networks in cities.
That would mean that excess wind power could, in principle, be used to supply this giant demand and that very little would go to waste, Carton says, noting that the main gas pipelines of cities could be used. For some, this is all very exciting, but there are still obstacles to overcome. A spokesperson for the wind energy industry body WindEurope says that while renewable hydrogen produced by wind electrolysis is “a guarantee for the future,” it takes a decade or so of technological development before these systems have an impact. significant. Jon Gluyas, director of geo-energy at Orsted, adds that the real question is whether it is profitable to install this equipment on a large scale.
Proponents unsurprisingly argue that it is, but with power systems still in development the real test remains to be seen. Ultimately, Professor Gluyas says that a combination of different technologies and approaches will be needed for countries like the UK to be carbon-free. For Carton, on the other hand, this opportunity is still tempting. Technologies that solve the problem of wind variability by harnessing excess energy to good use could be transformative, he argues.”It will change the way we see renewable energy,” he concludes
