Shell, Siemens and TenneT have banded together to call on the German government to tender for extra offshore wind power capacity that is specifically tied to hydrogen production.
The three companies jointly commissioned a study produced by consultancy group E-Bridge that found 900MW of power-to-gas projects driven by offshore wind could be built between 2026 and 2030.
Electricity generated at sea would be brought ashore by the transmission system operator via an offshore grid to ensure a centralised and coordinated approach, the companies said in a joint statement.
The wind power would then be used to generate hydrogen on land, which could be transported via the country’s gas network for use in other sectors, such as industry or transport.
“Additional offshore wind capacity could be developed in a short time and the power-to-gas technology could be further developed to market maturity,” the companies said.
The additional power capacity could also help Germany meet its renewable energy goals, they added.
Siemens head of energy research Armin Schnettler said: “In order to master the energy transition and to be able to do without fossil energy sources, we must decouple the generation of electricity from renewable energies from consumption.”
The trio’s call comes after the head of Orsted in Germany, Volker Malmen, last week told reNEWS the developer would like to see an auction-system overhaul to allow it to pursue new supply opportunities, such as power-to-gas.
A key aspect of making that change would be giving offshore developers the right to build grid connections in Germany themselves, Malmen said.