Major boost for innovation in off-shore wind and green hydrogen production

February 8, 2022

Government grant for FlexH2 research project could reduce the cost of hydrogen production by at least 10 procent.

Image: Pixabay
Image: Pixabay

The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) has awarded a 4-million euro grant to the GROW consortium FlexH2 project. The Shell-led project, which includes a significant contribution of TU/e, intends to develop and demonstrate technology that will accelerate the scale-up of offshore wind, green hydrogen production and its integration in the energy system. The research project is to start on April 1st and will last four years.

FlexH2 (which stands for Flexible Offshore Wind Hydrogen Power Plant Module) will develop innovations that could significantly reduce investment costs for offshore wind transmission infrastructure.

The proposed wind-to-hydrogen solution, which will be tested in laboratories at a Medium Voltage kW-scale, enables direct sourcing of renewable electricity to green hydrogen production. It is expected to be scalable and can be operated independently from a local or national power grid, thus reducing the time-to-market significantly by 5 to 10 years.

The integration of the various proposed innovations – varying from the offshore wind turbines to the transport and delivery of the power to an onshore electrolyser – could reduce the cost of hydrogen production by at least 10 procent and well before 2030. The results of this research project could provide the basis for the accelerated development of Power-to-Hydrogen projects in the Netherlands.

Dongsheng Yang
Dongsheng Yang

Contribution of TU/e

Dongsheng Yang from the Electrical Energy Systems group in the department of Electrical Engineering Department will lead a research team to develop the innovations on the grid-forming offshore wind farm and multi-terminal hybrid HVDC transmission system together with industrial partners.

Moreover, a down-scaled demonstrator will be built at the medium voltage lab of TU/e, which is essential to mature the technology innovations and integrations for commercial applications by 2030.

Dr. Yang said: “It is fantastic to participate in such a great project on power-to-hydrogen, and I am very much looking forward to collaborating closely with the whole consortium and supporting the key innovations with advanced power electronics technologies.”

A strong consortium covering the energy conversion route

The FlexH2 research project is part of the GROW programme and led by Yin Sun, offshore wind electrical innovation lead at Shell, who said: “The development of this innovative concept is a fantastic example of the collective efforts between industry, academia and governments that will be needed to reach society’s net-zero emissions goals. Shell is committed to supporting the delivery of a sustainable energy system and I am proud that FlexH2 will enable the acceleration of offshore wind development, as well as Power-to-H2 projects”.

General Electric, ABB, VONK, TU/e and Technical University of Delft will develop the electro-technical innovations. Shell, Van Oord, TKF, TNO and DNV will use their expertise related to hydrogen electrolysis, balance of plant, market/flexibility, and key component design, transport and installation expertise, respectively.

David de Jager, GROW director: “FlexH2 shows the dedication of the industry to speed up the energy transition, and to improve the integration of offshore wind in the energy system. The innovation instruments of the Dutch government are essential for GROW projects such as FlexH2. And with a high payback potential for society. Take 4 gigawatts offshore wind capacity for example – the FlexH2 concept could reduce transmission costs with more than 100 million euros per year”.

About GROW and FlexH2

FlexH2 is a Joint Industry Project focusing on the integration of offshore wind energy and hydrogen production. It is part of the GROW programme on offshore wind energy. The GROW programme aims to reduce costs of offshore wind electricity, to create added value for the Dutch economy and to strengthen the Dutch offshore wind industry. In the GROW programme 17 partners cooperate to initiate research and accelerate innovations in offshore wind.

FlexH2 is based on three key technological innovation pillars: (1) a grid-forming offshore wind farm, (2) a high-performance AC/DC solid-state transformer for large-scale electrolysers, and (3) a multi-terminal hybrid HVDC transmission system and its energy system integration. The project will determine the optimal design and operational solutions for these pillars. FlexH2 will also demonstrate the feasibility and inter-operability of these key technologies at a medium voltage level, which is crucial to boost the confidence of the FlexH2 concept for application in commercial projects.

Tender scheme

The RVO grant is part of the MOOI-SIGOHE tender scheme, which supports innovations that contribute to the system integration of large-scale renewable electricity production. It is covered by the Topsector Energy and is managed by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate.

In addition to the 4 million grant of RVO, the partners are investing an additional 5 million euros in the project.

 

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