ITM Power consortium granted EUR 5m for offshore hydrogen project

ITM Power announced on Friday that the ‘Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking’ (FCH2-JU) - a public private partnership of the European Commission - has awarded the Oyster Project consortium €5m (£4.5m) to investigate the feasibility and potential of combining an offshore wind turbine directly with an electrolyser, and transporting renewable hydrogen to shore.

The AIM-traded firm said the Oyster Project consortium consisted of itself, as well as Orsted, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, and Element Energy.

It said the consortium would develop and test a megawatt-scale fully marinised electrolyser in a shoreside pilot trial, with the project being coordinated by Element Energy.

To realise the potential of offshore hydrogen production, it said there was a need for compact electrolysis systems that could withstand harsh offshore environments and had minimal maintenance requirements, while still meeting cost and performance targets that would allow for the production of low-cost hydrogen.

The project would provide a “major advance” towards that aim, the consortium said in its statement.

It said the electrolyser system would be designed to be compact, so it could be integrated with a single offshore wind turbine, and to follow the turbine's production profile.

Additionally, the electrolyser system would integrate desalination and water treatment processes, making it possible to use seawater as a feedstock for the electrolysis process.

The Oyster project partners said they shared a vision of hydrogen being produced from offshore wind at a cost that was competitive with natural gas, with a realistic carbon tax, thus “unlocking” bulk markets for green hydrogen.

They said the project was a “key first step” towards the development of a commercial offshore hydrogen production industry.

The project was planned to start in 2021 and run to the end of 2024.

ITM Power said it would be responsible for the development of the electrolyser system and the electrolyser trials, while Orsted would lead the offshore deployment analysis, the feasibility study of future physical offshore electrolyser deployments, and support ITM Power in the design of the electrolyser system for marinisation and testing.

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy and Element Energy would provide technical and project expertise.

“ITM Power are delighted to be part of this exciting project, working alongside industry leaders to explore the potential to harness wind for offshore green hydrogen production,” said chief executive officer Dr Graham Cooley.

At 0845 GMT, shares in ITM Power were up 3.66% at 590.85p.