New floating wind-to-hydrogen project proposed in UK

Environmental Resources Management’s (ERM) ERM Dolphyn and Source Energie have entered into a partnership to jointly develop projects in the Celtic Sea that incorporate floating wind and green hydrogen production, with an aim to participate in the Crown Estate’s planned floating wind leasing round.

Source Energie has been working for some time to identify both medium- and long-term sites for development of floating offshore wind before partnering with ERM Dolphyn.

The first site under development is located approximately 60 kilometres off the Pembrokeshire coast, west of Milford Haven, and has a target deployment date of 2027/2028.

The new partners state that the site, called “Dylan”, has an ideal location as it offers good energy generating conditions, strong expansion potential, and has a number of viable low-impact pipeline routes to areas of existing and growing hydrogen demand.

Future expansion could provide more than 2 GW of energy, which would provide enough hydrogen to make a material impact on local and national decarbonisation targets, Source Energie and ERM said.

ERM Dolphyn is technology developed by ERM, which combines electrolysis, desalination and hydrogen production on a floating wind platform. 

Last year, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with Simply Blue Energy and Subsea 7 for the potential use of the ERM Dolphyn hydrogen technology on the 200 MW Salamander floating wind project.

According to the company, the ERM Dolphyn opportunity in the Celtic Sea (Project Dylan) is supported by the Welsh Government Smart Living Initiative, as part of its commitment to developing the national hydrogen economy, as well as objectives from Wales’ Hydrogen Pathway for driving demand, green hydrogen production and inter-sectoral synergies.

In the Celtic Sea, the Crown Estate aims to unlock up to 4 GW of new floating wind capacity in England and Wales with through a dedicated leasing round and is currently carrying out consultation process, in which Source Energie is actively engaging, the company’s CEO Kevin Lynch said.

Source Energie states that it is currently developing 5 GW of offshore wind, solar PV and storage projects across Ireland and the UK, and that the team behind the company has led over 15 GW of wind and solar PV projects on a global scale, including 5 GW of offshore wind projects in UK and Irish waters. 

The company’s management team includes co-founders and former project managers at Mainstream Renewable Energy and Amarenco Renewable Energy, among others.