Ørsted Breaks Ground on First Renewable Hydrogen Project

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Leading offshore windfarm developer Ørsted (Gentofte, Denmark) has broken ground on its first renewable hydrogen energy project in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The H2RES project will have a capacity of 2 megawatts (MW) and is located at the company's Avedøre Holme site, which is powered by two 3.6-MW offshore wind turbines. The goal of the project is to figure out the best way to combine an efficient electrolyser with the fluctuating power supply from offshore wind. The facility will produce up to about 1,000 kilograms of renewable hydrogen a day, which will be used to fuel zero-emission road transport in the Greater Copenhagen area and in Zeeland. First hydrogen is expected to be produced later this year. The groundbreaking was attended by Denmark's Minister for Climate, Energy & Utilities Dan Jørgensen.

"H2RES will be a small, but very important first step in realising Ørsted's large ambitions for renewable hydrogen, which has fast proven itself as a centrepiece in the green transformation of the European economy to net-zero emissions by 2050," commented Anders Nordstrøm, vice president and head of Ørsted's hydrogen and PtX activities. "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."

Ørsted is involved in nine renewable hydrogen projects in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and the U.K. to date, spanning demonstration projects like H2RES to industrial-scale versions like the potential 1,300-MW 'Green Fuels for Denmark' project with companies including Copenhagen Airports, A.P. Moller - Maersk (Copenhagen) and DSV Panalpina (Hedehusene, Denmark) among others. The first stage, which could be operational by 2023, comprises a 10-MW electrolyser which can produce renewable hydrogen to fuel buses and trucks. Stage two will comprise a 250-MW electrolyser facility up and running by 2027, utilising the first power from the planned Bornholm offshore windfarm. It will also offer carbon capture from various locations in the Greater Copenhagen area to produce renewable methanol for maritime transport and renewable jet-fuel (e-kerosene) for the aviation sector. Stage Three, which could be operational by 2030, would upgrade the project's electrolyser capacity to 1.3-GW and capture more sustainable CO2, enough to supply more than 250,000 tonnes of sustainable fuels for use in buses, trucks, maritime vessels and airplanes.

In April, Industrial Info reported that Ørsted had revealed plans to build a 1-gigawatt (GW) renewable hydrogen (H2) plant that will be linked to industrial demand in the Netherlands and Belgium. The ambitious SeaH2Land project aims to have a 1-GW electrolyser directly linked to a new 2-GW offshore windfarm to be located in the southern part of the Dutch North Sea. It will service the Dutch-Flemish North Sea Port cluster, which runs for 60 kilometers, and will be capable, if fully realised, of converting about 20% of the current hydrogen consumption in the region to renewable hydrogen. It has the backing of the major industrial companies in the region, including the world's leading steelmaker, ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT), leading ammonia producer Yara International (Oslo, Norway), chemical giant Dow Benelux and Zeeland Refinery--all of which are initiating their own collaborative H2 projects. For additional information, see April 12, 2021, article--Orsted Plans Giant Green Hydrogen Plant for Netherlands, Belgium.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn.