Offshore wind developer Deep Wind Offshore has entered a collaboration with Hydepoint to explore offshore hydrogen production from offshore wind

Deep Wind Offshore is developing offshore wind parks worldwide, so far with projects in Norway, Sweden, and South Korea. HydePoint is a leading product and technology company specializing in offshore hydrogen production and provides solutions that can integrate hydrogen production with offshore wind parks.

– Hydrogen will be an essential part of the energy mix towards net zero. By producing hydrogen offshore close to the wind farms, the wind farms can be built further out to sea, to avoid conflicted areas, and at the same time increase utilization and profitability. This is relevant in several of our current and coming markets, including Sweden. Hydepoint has an exciting technology, and we look forward to exploring opportunities together”, said Knut Vassbotn, CEO of Deep Wind Offshore.

The European Commission has launched an action plan which will ensure growth in wind power to reach its climate goals. According to the plan, there must be installed a total of 500 GW of offshore and onshore wind power by 2030.

Electricity production from offshore wind will become a significant source of renewable energy, but current grids are not prepared to receive neither the large amounts of power nor the peaks expected from renewable energy.  Offshore hydrogen production from offshore wind will reduce the need for investments in grids, as well as providing a renewable product that can be delivered to demand centres further afield.

Plans are currently explored for hydrogen export pipelines from Norway, Sweden, and Finland to Germany, and could facilitate offshore hydrogen production close to the windfarms and delivering hydrogen directly into these pipelines.

– Exploring the best possible integration of offshore wind and -hydrogen in an early project development phase can further optimize the value of the combined asset and reduce dependency on upgrades to existing infrastructure. In addition, the time it takes to start production of green hydrogen offshore can be significantly reduced by planning the wind farm and the hydrogen processing plant in parallel, Elin Steinsland, CEO of HydePoint said.

EU has set a target of 20 million tons of hydrogen produced from renewable energy by 2030. Hydrogen will largely be used as a feedstock in the process industry producing components such as clean fertilizers, green steel, and green fuels for especially the maritime sector.

The cooperation between Deep Wind Offshore and HydePoint is a testament to the industry’s commitment to innovation and sustainability. Offshore hydrogen production can help optimize the value of offshore wind farms through best possible utilization of all available power and provide hydrogen to a growing European market.