Norwegian offshore wind-to-hydrogen project gets financial boost

Innovation Norway has granted financial support to the Deep Purple project, which is developing a green hydrogen production system powered by offshore wind, with the hydrogen being stored on the seabed.

A consortium led by TechnipFMC is working on a pilot project that will see a green hydrogen offshore energy system being constructed and tested in Norway. The scope includes the development and testing of an advanced control and advisory system and a dynamic process simulator.

The pilot project, worth EUR 9 million, will enable the development of an advanced energy system for green hydrogen production powered by offshore wind and allow the consortium partners to prepare the system for large-scale offshore commercial use.

Deploying these systems offshore is an advantage from an environmental perspective and designing them autonomously and at scale is critical to accelerating the energy transition, according to TechnipFMC.

“Securing the approvals and funding to proceed with a scale pilot is a critical step in the path to commercialization”, said Jonathan Landes, President Subsea at TechnipFMC. “We are grateful to our partners and to Innovation Norway for collaborating with us as we advance sustainable renewables production. Deep Purple is another example of our commitment to working with clients and industry to develop transformative technologies, leveraging our industry know-how and subsea expertise to serve the Energy Transition”.

The consortium behind the project also includes Vattenfall, Repsol, ABB, NEL, DNV GL, UMOE and Slåttland, and is supported by academia, research companies and clusters.

In 2019, TechnipFMC hired HYON to deliver engineering consultancy services for the project, which include work related to technology qualification, development of offshore wind foundations and subsea energy storage solutions.