Lhyfe and partners have secured a €20m European Commission grant for the Hydrogen Offshore Production for Europe (HOPE) project.
The consortium aims to pave the way for the deployment of large-scale offshore manufacture of renewable hydrogen.
The five-year HOPE project involves developing, building and operating the first 10MW production unit in the North Sea, off the coast of Belgium, by 2026.
The aim is to demonstrate the technical and financial viability of this offshore project, and of pipeline transport for supplying onshore customers.
The funding award was provided by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership, co-founded and co-financed by the European Union.
Lhyfe completed a first step in 2022 with the inauguration of Sealhyfe, a pilot production plant for offshore hydrogen already integrating Plug’s PEM technology and powered by a 1MW floating wind turbine.
With HOPE, the consortium partners are moving up a gear and aiming for commercialisation.
The 10MW electrolyser will be able to produce up to four tonnes a day of green hydrogen at sea, which will be exported to shore by composite pipeline, compressed and delivered to customers for use in industry and the transport sector.
The HOPE installation will be 1km from the coast, in the offshore testing area in front of the port of Ostend, which aims to be the central link in the hydrogen chain in Belgium and has contributed to the development of the project since its inception.
The production site will be powered by electricity supplied under PPA contracts that guarantee its renewable origin.
The water used for electrolysis will be pumped from the North Sea, desalinated and purified.
The production site will comprise three units: production and compression (at medium pressure) at sea, export by composite pipeline, then compression (at high pressure), storage and distribution onshore.
The hydrogen will supply mobility needs and small industries in Belgium, northern France and the southern Netherlands, within a 300km radius.
The grant awarded by the European Commission covers a period of five years.
The €20m grant will be used to finance the design phases, the supply of equipment and the construction work, as well as research, development and innovation tasks focusing mainly on optimising technological solutions and the operation of this type of infrastructure.
The techno-economic analysis of offshore renewable hydrogen production solutions on a much larger scale will be another of the areas of work.
HOPE will combine the expertise and know-how of each of the nine partners involved, covering the entire renewable hydrogen value chain.
The 10MW PEM electrolyser will be one of the first of its size to be installed offshore and will be hosted on a recycled barge, along with other components of the system.
In addition to Lhyfe, other partners on HOPE include Plug, EDP NEW and Strohm.