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Offshore H2 Hydrogen Production At Sea Should Do the Trick

Source: HS Bremerhaven | Translated by AI 2 min Reading Time

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Hydrogen is becoming increasingly important as an alternative energy source for Germany—especially to compensate for weather-dependent electricity suppliers. Researchers now want to produce H2 at sea ...

Producing hydrogen where the raw material is available in vast quantities: In the sea! Researchers at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences now want to get this off the ground. They believe that offshore hydrogen production is more favorable than on land ...(Picture: © Shawn Hempel - stock.adobe.com)
Producing hydrogen where the raw material is available in vast quantities: In the sea! Researchers at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences now want to get this off the ground. They believe that offshore hydrogen production is more favorable than on land ...
(Picture: © Shawn Hempel - stock.adobe.com)

The "wind2hydrogen" project at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences (Germany) is looking for a way to convert the energy from offshore wind turbines into hydrogen directly on site at sea, according to reports. To this end, they are working together with the University of Bremen and Bremerhaven-based Enpro GmbH. Last year, around 1,600 offshore wind turbines fed around six percent of Germany's annual electricity supply into the public grid. However, submarine cables have to be laid to bring this energy ashore. However, this is expensive and must be well thought out for environmental reasons. It would therefore be cheaper to convert the electricity generated directly into hydrogen on site and store the energy in this form, as the researchers say. However, the seawater used for electrolysis would first have to be desalinated. This is the focus on which the Bremerhaven researchers are concentrating. There are also initial reports of success, they say.

Autonomous Platform Turns Seawater into H2

Specifically, the aim is to accelerate the process engineering planning and development of a floating hydrogen production plant—in other words, to answer the question of how such a plant could look and function. This is no trivial matter, as such a platform would have to function autonomously and, of course, withstand the difficult environmental conditions at sea. Recently, however, the researchers were able to deliver their first positive reports. For example, they can draw on existing technologies during development, which will lead to a faster time to market. This analysis is an important part of the project, as it may be that the technical requirements developed in the study go beyond what is currently available on the market and will later have to be solved by industry on the basis of the final catalog of recommendations. The aim now is to develop a model that can be used to simulate various hydrogen platforms. This would then help to estimate the costs of installation and the risks involved in operation. A concrete sketch for a test facility is planned for next year.

(The project is funded by BIS Bremerhavener Gesellschaft für Investitionsförderung und Stadtentwicklung mbH and co-financed with funds from the "EFRE Bremen 2021 to 2027" program).

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