(Nantes / France) – The “HOPE” (Hydrogen Offshore Production for Europe) project is supported by the European Commission with 20 million euros. The aim of a consortium led by the French company Lhyfe is to produce green hydrogen at sea and transport it to land via a pipeline.
The location is in the North Sea in front of the port of Ostend (Belgium) in an offshore test zone. According to the information, the capacity of the planned electrolyzer is ten megawatts and the yield is four tons of hydrogen per day. Commissioning is scheduled for 2026.
Sealhyfe already produces offshore
The forerunner and test balloon, so to speak, was the “Sealhyfe” project launched by Lhyfe in 2022: Lhyfe wants to demonstrate the technical feasibility of such an offshore project with a wind turbine floating in the Atlantic 20 kilometers off the coast of France with an output of one megawatt gain the operational experience required for rapid expansion.
Inauguration of the offshore platform for the production of renewable hydrogen in Saint Nazaire, Loire-Atlantique by Lhyfe CEO Matthieu Guesné in September 2022. © Lhyfe
The companies involved celebrated the first kilogram of hydrogen produced there in mid-June. The platform, which is less than 200 square meters in size, can produce up to 400 kilograms of the energy source every day. The test is based on the unmanned floating platform “Wavegem” from the French offshore specialist GEPS Techno, which was converted to stabilize the production unit at sea and equipped with a large number of sensors. It is connected to the offshore test site in Nantes called “SEM-REV”.
Sealhyfe: still docked in port. © Lhyfe
Wavegem is a hybrid, autonomous power generation platform designed to provide green power to marine or island facilities without access to the grid. The platform generates energy from wave power through the movements of a swimmer in a closed circuit with seawater. The conversion into electrical energy takes place via a turbine at low speed.
The French engineering school Centrale Nantes is also involved in the development. The Norwegian ones DNV-Group, service provider in the areas of technical consulting, engineering, certification and risk management, accompanies Sealhyfe with a study on environmental, safety and operational risks.
High-ranking visitor: President Emmanuel Macron with Lhyfe CEO Matthieu Guesné at the inauguration. © Lhyfe
From September 2022 to May 2023, the Sealhyfe platform was moored at the Quai des Frégates in the port of Saint-Nazaire. According to the information, “hundreds of tests” were initially carried out to record the exact behavior and performance. In addition, the technology has been adapted for offshore operations in extreme conditions and designed to reduce the number of remote maintenance interventions required at sea to a minimum.
On May 19, Sealhyfe was towed to the offshore test site off the coast of Le Croisic, France. It was then connected to the plant's underwater hub via a cable specially developed for hydrogen use. The system was back up and running within 48 hours. Lhyfe will now repeat all tests carried out at the wharf several times to obtain a comparison of results and then “address further offshore-specific tests”.
Starting signal for offshore hydrogen production
With the current “HOPE” project, Lhyfe now wants to accelerate the pace of commercialization. The offshore facility will consist of three units: production and compression (at medium pressure) at sea, export through a composite pipeline, then further compression (at high pressure), storage and distribution on land. An unnamed producer supplies the green electricity as part of PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) contracts.
HOPE: The hydrogen produced offshore in a 10-megawatt electrolyser is sent via a flexible pipeline to Ostend, Belgium, around one kilometer away. From there it is transported and distributed. The platform is powered by green electricity and monitored from land. © Lhyfe
The water used for electrolysis is taken from the North Sea, desalinated and purified. An economical, low-energy system is used that can use the heat given off by the electrolyzer, explains Lhyfe. The hydrogen produced at sea is brought to land via a more than one kilometer long flexible pipeline made of thermoplastic composite material, which has been technically certified for this specific use.
According to company estimates, the first HOPE hydrogen could be produced as early as 2026. The mobility sector is named as a buyer, as is small industry in Belgium, northern France and the southern Netherlands within a radius of 300 kilometers.
The consortium
For the project, Lhyfe is responsible for engineering, equipment procurement, construction supervision, operations, optimization of the entire production, export and distribution system, and project coordination. The Dutch subsidiary of the US fuel cell manufacturer Plug Power Inc. is supplying and installing the 10 megawatt electrolyser.
EDP NEW (Portugal), the research institute of the energy group Energias de Portugal SA, analyzes operations and leads technical-economic studies for large-scale developments. The business development agency POM-West-Vlaanderen (Belgium) supports the project implementation through studies and permits as well as through analyzes of the social, economic and environmental impacts of the project. The French research center for alternative energies and nuclear energy CEA (Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives) will optimize operations through digital simulations.
Strohm is developing solutions to transport green hydrogen produced offshore undersea via pipeline to land. © Strohm BV
Strohm (Netherlands) supplies the flexible subsea pipeline made of thermoplastic composite material (TCP). The company appeared at the end of 2021 to test hydrogen transport with newly developed pipes. A cooperation with the Spanish wind turbine manufacturer became known at the time Siemens Games Renewable Energy, which was fully integrated into Siemens Energy in June of this year following a capital reduction and squeeze-out of the remaining minority shareholders. Also with the Norwegian engineering service provider Seanovent Engineering AS there were agreements to develop pipe structures to transport green hydrogen from sea to land.
Alfa Laval (Denmark) supplies the seawater treatment system. The Berlin-based DWR Eco GmbH is responsible for communicating and disseminating the project results in Europe. The consulting company ERM International Group Ltd. supports the consortium through its consulting subsidiary Element Energy (France/Great Britain), which was acquired in summer 2021 and specializes in low-carbon energy supply.
According to Lhyfe, there are already agreements with wind turbine developers and offshore energy specialists such as EDPR, Centrica and Capital Energy.
The commercial operation of the infrastructure developed in this context for the production, export and distribution of hydrogen is to be continued beyond the five-year EU funding period.
Photos
Lhyfe vision: This is what offshore hydrogen production powered by green electricity could one day look like. © Lhyfe
