Offshore wind-to-hydrogen brings high profile investors to Dutch TCP pipeline supplier

HydrogenOne Capital Growth has signed definitive agreements for an investment of EUR 10 million in Strohm, the Dutch manufacturer of hydrogen pipelines who already saw Shell Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures, and Evonik Venture Capital joining in as investors.

HydrogenOne, the first LSE-listed investment fund dedicated to clean hydrogen, invested the EUR 10 million in the first close of a funding round totalling EUR 14 million and said it may also invest up to a further EUR 2 million in the second close of this funding round, which is anticipated to be at least EUR 6 million in aggregate in addition, expected later in 2022.

This fundraising is expected to enable Strohm to scale up its plant capacity in the Netherlands.

Following the investment, HydrogenOne will have the right to a board seat.

Strohm, which recently signed a cooperation agreement with the French hydrogen technology developer Lhyfe for its floating wind-to-hydrogen project, has developed a thermoplastic composite pipe (TCP) solution through which green hydrogen generated at offshore wind turbines can be transported to shore.

The company’s TCP solution is said to be more cost effective than steel pipes, durable, lightweight and 100 per cent recyclable, with 50 per cent less manufacturing greenhouse gas emissions.

The technology can be used to transport hydrogen, CO2, ammonia and water, where steel solutions suffer from embrittlement and corrosion.

As TCP is a flexible pipe, it can be installed offshore easily and quickly, using the same methods as currently used for array cables, HydrogenOne pointed out.

In December 2021, Siemens Gamesa joined Strohm on developing a hydrogen transfer solution that improves the decentralised green hydrogen concept which involves hydrogen production at individual offshore wind turbines and its transportation to shore by a subsea pipe infrastructure. In this concept, power cables are replaced by a pipe infrastructure, storing and transferring hydrogen.

“We recognised the fit between clean hydrogen and offshore wind at an early stage, and developed a compelling pipe solution to support it. TCP can transfer up to nine times the amount of energy compared to a cable, and can be used to store hydrogen, thereby increasing the uptime of offshore wind farms”, said Martin van Onna, Managing Director of Strohm.

Announcing its investment into the company, HydrogenOne emphasised that over 9 GW of offshore green hydrogen projects have been proposed in the North Sea basin, with further multi-GWs growth potential, alongside Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS).

All of these will require specialist pipeline solutions at scale and Strohm is well positioned to service the development of this offshore hydrogen and CCUS market, the investor said.

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