Offshore Wind-to-Hydrogen Could Satisfy Europe's Demand for Clean Energy

There is no denying that hydrogen is regarded as a key part of clean energy, a way to decarbonise various energy sources around the world. When you consider that hydrogen produces no greenhouse gas emissions when it’s burned, it’s easy to see why it’s a component that’s being focused on. However, there are hurdles to overcome, and transitioning straight to hydrogen is by no means an easy task.

There are obvious benefits to using ‘green’ hydrogen, but it’s an expensive form of clean energy, and it’s hard to scale. But, this isn’t the case when offshore wind-to-hydrogen is used, which combines flowing wind turbines and electrolysers to utilise seawater. With offshore wind-to-hydrogen efforts, green energy could become a lot more affordable and readily available.

Sealhfye Produces First Kilograms of Green Hydrogen

In 2022, Lhyfe started the first offshore renewable hydrogen production pilot, and it has already been making waves in the clean energy industry. This year, the company announced that Sealyhfe, a 1MW demonstrator project created by Lhyfe, had started to produce its first batches of green hydrogen.

Located around 20km off the coast of France, Sealyhfe now produces close to half a tonne of hydrogen per day. It uses SEM-REV, Europe’s first floating wind farm, to draw electricity from the wind turbine itself. As Sealhyfe is on a floating platform, it’s completely stable, even though it’s located at sea. The potential instability is something that a lot of people have previously used as a downside of wind-to-hydrogen energy resources, but Sealhyfe has remained stable thus far.

Sealhyfe will continue to use the SEM-REV hub until May next year, in which time experts hope it will prove that the technology works, and that it can withstand the changeable and sometimes harsh conditions of the Atlantic Ocean.

Sealhfye Boosts Other Clean Energy Projects

Sealhyfe will give future offshore projects a push in the right direction, including 10MW HOPE, a project that Lhyfe is navigating with eight other partners. Using a €20mn grant from The European Clean Hydrogen Partnership Program, HOPE will produce up to four tonnes of green hydrogen every day. It’s hoped that the project will be up and running by 2026, and it will be located on Belgium’s coastline. Lhyfe plans to have an additional 10MW projects by 2030.

There are a number of other offshore wind-to-hydrogen production projects being started around Europe. Including Siemens Energy and Siemens Gamesa’s H2Mare, which the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research is backing with a €700mn investment. Offshore hydrogen is also being pursued by the Dutch government, who has found an area for a future 500MW wind-to-hydrogen project.

Though offshore wind-to-hydrogen is certainly in its infant stages, countries around Europe are beginning to jump on board, and projects such as Sealhyfe are proving what’s possible with the right investments.  

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