Orsted wants to construct a large-scale offshore wind farm in the North Sea and link it to so-called “renewable” hydrogen production on the European mainland, with the project garnering support from several major industrial firms. Under the proposals, which were outlined on Wednesday, Orsted would develop a 2 gigawatt (GW) offshore wind facility and 1 GW of electrolyzer capacity, with the company claiming its plans would result in one of the world’s largest renewable hydrogen plants to be linked to industrial demand. The electrolyzer part of the project — to be built in two 500 megawatt phases — would use electricity from the wind farm to produce hydrogen. Among other things, partners involved in the development need to undertake a full feasibility study of SeaH2Land, while Orsted has yet to take a final investment decision. If all goes smoothly and the project gets the green light, however, both portions of the electrolyzer could be up and running by 2030.
The last few years have seen a number of businesses take an interest in projects connected to renewable hydrogen, while major economies such as the European Union have laid out plans to install at least 40 GW of renewable hydrogen electrolyzers by 2030. The planet’s third biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, India’s attempt to embrace hydrogen and other renewable technologies — it’s targeting 450 GW of renewable capacity by 2030 — would, if fully realized, represent a significant shift for the country.