Funding granted for offshore low-carbon hydrogen production project in Wales

Dolphyn Hydrogen, Celtic Sea Power, ORE Catapult and Wales and West Utilities have secured £887,000 ($1.14 million) in funding from Innovate UK’s Launchpad: net zero industry, Southwest Wales program, to deliver the £2.1 million ($2.7 million) Milford Haven: Hydrogen Kingdom (MH:HK) project.  Co-funding has also been provided through Pembroke Dock Marine, a Swansea Bay City Deal initiative.

The MH:HK is expected to provide a “credible” outline for connecting offshore hydrogen generation with onshore hydrogen distribution by harnessing Dolphyn Hydrogen’s technology at a site within the Celtic Sea, known as the Pembrokeshire Demonstration Zone (PDZ). This is a 90 km2 area off the south coast of Pembrokeshire, currently designated for wave and tidal test and demonstration activity and managed by Celtic Sea Power.

According to Dolphyn Hydrogen, the MH:HK will aim to update the existing scoping for the PDZ to include green hydrogen production from floating offshore wind (FLOW), with pipeline connection to shore, and onwards to off-takers.

Dolphyn Hydrogen commented: “There is now broad consensus that both renewable electricity and low carbon hydrogen are required to achieve net zero targets. FLOW provides a significant opportunity to achieve the scale of generation needed, including within the Celtic Sea region, but to date the emphasis has been on electricity generation alone.”

“The Dolphyn Technology provides an opportunity to extend FLOW’s potential into offshore hydrogen generation, taking advantage of the fact that it is generally cheaper to transport hydrogen rather than electricity ashore, especially over long distances. Hydrogen also has the advantage of not being subject to electricity grid constraints, which are often a major barrier to electrical FLOW projects.”

“With the program proposed for MH:HK and the subsequent rollout of Dolphyn, we can not only de-risk the generation of hydrogen, but also secure a pre-2030 supply of green hydrogen at scale for early industrial off-takers, as well as providing a source of hydrogen to feed into Hyline Cymru. This will set the platform for further expansion, and for working with other developers who might wish to capitalize on advantages brought by Dolphyn Hydrogen’s technology.”

Hyline Cymru is a proposal to build a 130 km hydrogen pipeline across South Wales from Pembroke to Port Talbot. The pipeline is expected to help unlock at least 4.5 GW of offshore wind in the Celtic Sea by providing a route to market for clean energy producers, whilst transporting a homegrown low-carbon energy source to hard-to-decarbonize customers.

Steve Matthews, CEO of Dolphyn Hydrogen, stated “Low Carbon Hydrogen will provide a critical part of the future energy mix in Wales and the UK, enhancing energy security and enabling our net zero ambitions to be realized. The Milford Haven Hydrogen Kingdom project provides a pivotal step forward for Dolphyn Hydrogen, our project partners, and the hydrogen industry more generally, in demonstrating a viable pathway for producing affordable hydrogen at scale from offshore floating wind. We are delighted to be part of a team that is dedicated to creating a better future for all.”

To remind, this summer of 2024, offshore trials were launched to test Dolphyn Hydrogen’s process which combines electrolysis, desalination and hydrogen production on a floating wind platform, marking the first time hydrogen has been produced from seawater in a marine environment in the UK. The learnings and performance data gathered in the trials will be used to inform the future design of full-scale Dolphyn units, which will be deployed at multiple locations over the next few years.