Ørsted Starts Construction of Largest Green Hydrogen Plant
By Malcolm Ramsay
A new wave of development of hydrogen projects promises to not only drive new breakbulk demand, but also reshape the way that outsized goods are transported.
While electric vehicles have gained much exposure in recent years, the use of hydrogen as a transport fuel has failed to gain the same traction, but a variety of new projects to expand hydrogen infrastructure may be about to change this as industrial scale capacity adds new incentives.
In Denmark, renewable energy developer Ørsted recently embarked on construction of its largest green hydrogen development, the H2RES offshore wind-to-hydrogen project. The facility will have capacity of 2 megawatts and will produce up to about 1,000 kilograms of renewable hydrogen a day. Situated in Ørsted's premises on Avedøre Holme in Copenhagen, the project will combine electrolyser technology with offshore wind, and is seen as a test-bed to develop new heavy-duty transport infrastructure.
Heavy-duty Transport
Logistics group DSV is working Ørsted to explore the use of hydrogen fuel in its heavy-transport fleet, with the aim to create a "zero-emission" transport in Greater Copenhagen and on Sealand in Denmark.
“Our part in this project is to assess applicability of hydrogen for trucks through analysis of our truck fleet patterns in Denmark, requirements for hydrogen powered heavy transport and screening of available hydrogen powered trucks,” a spokesperson for DSV said.
Following groundbreaking on the project in the second quarter, first hydrogen from the H2RES facility is expected to be completed in late 2021. The facility will take power from two 3.6-megawatt offshore wind turbines and is designed to be scalable to higher capacity.
Supported by the Danish Energy Agency, the project includes a wide range of partners from across industry, with Ørsted collaborating with Everfuel Europe, NEL Hydrogen, Green Hydrogen Systems, Hydrogen Denmark, Energinet Elsystemansvar as well as DSV.
Hydrogen "has fast proven itself as a centrepiece in the green transformation of the European economy to net-zero emissions by 2050,” said Anders Nordstrøm, vice president at Ørsted. “At Ørsted, we believe that renewable hydrogen can become an industrial stronghold of several European economies, including Denmark, while also contributing significantly to bringing down emissions from the hard-to-abate sectors in transport and industry."
Hydrogen Production
Traditional oil and gas firms are also rapidly entering the hydrogen sector with BP and announcing plans to build the world’s largest hydrogen production plant in the UK earlier this year.
“Clean hydrogen is an essential complement to electrification on the path to net-zero … It can also play an essential role in decarbonising hard-to-electrify industries and driving down the cost of the energy transition,” said Dev Sanyal, executive vice president of gas and low-carbon energy at BP.
The proposed plant will be located in Teesside in the north of England, and will produce 1 gigawatt of blue hydrogen. A final investment decision [FID] is scheduled for early 2024, with significant breakbulk demand expected as construction ramps up.
Working with development agencies Net Zero Teesside, or NZT, and the Northern Endurance Partnership, or NEP, BP plans to transform the area into one of the first carbon neutral clusters in the UK, supporting thousands of jobs and enabling the UK’s Ten Point Plan.
In July, Norwegian energy firm Equinor announced plans to develop one of the first at-scale facilities to produce hydrogen from natural gas. The proposed H2H Saltend plant will be located at Saltend Chemicals Park near the city of Hull, also in the north of England, and will comprise a 600 megawatt auto thermal reformer with carbon capture.
Al Cook, executive vice president at Equinor, said, “we’re proud of the role our natural gas and offshore wind has played in reducing carbon emissions in power. Now we want to go further by bringing hydrogen to the Humber region. With our partners, we plan to transform the UK’s largest industrial cluster into its greenest cluster.”
Hydro Motion
In parallel with the development of hydrogen production facilities, researchers in the Netherlands have been exploring the potential uses for the fuel in maritime transport, recently launching the first hydrogen-powered trimaran.
Outfitted with hydrofoils, the vessel weighs more than 1,000 kilograms and is able to "fly" above the waves, reaching speeds of 22 kilometers per hour. The ship was designed and built by a team from the University of Delft and competed in the World Championship in Monaco. The development has been watched closely by breakbulk shipping lines with Dutch heavy-lift specialist Jumbo sponsoring the team and supporting the development of the technology.
“Jumbo has been a long-term supporter of the TU Solar Boat Team,” Rolf van den Bosch, manager engineering at Jumbo, told Breakbulk. “With the Hydro Motion boat, the team has shown that the technology already exists for the future of the maritime industry to be a sustainable one, something we at Jumbo fully support.”
Headquartered in in Schiedam in the Netherlands, Jumbo is a family-owned firm specializing in project cargo logistics and breakbulk handling. The firm operates a heavy-lift fleet that includes a range of offshore construction vessels and offshore transportation vessels. The firm is an exhibitor at Breakbulk events.
