Ørsted to put its first green hydrogen project into operation in next six months

Ørsted’s first green hydrogen project, the 2 MW H2RES offshore wind-to-hydrogen demonstrator in Denmark, is expected to go into operation in the first half of 2022, the company said in its 2021 annual report.

H2RES, which will produce renewable hydrogen for road transport, is being built on Ørsted’s premises on Avedøre Holme in Copenhagen and will use the company’s two 3.6 MW offshore wind turbines installed there to power hydrogen production through an electrolyser of 2 MW capacity.

Construction works on the demonstration project started in May 2021 with a groundbreaking ceremony led by Dan Jørgensen, the Danish minister for Climate, Energy & Utilities.

For its first green hydrogen project, Ørsted partnered with Everfuel, DSV, Green Hydrogen Systems (GHS), NEL Hydrogen, Hydrogen Denmark, and Energinet Elsystemansvar.

Green Hydrogen Systems (GHS) is the supplier of electrolysis technology for H2RES.

Meanwhile, four other Ørsted’s green hydrogen projects are progressing in the funding process through the European Union’s Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI).

“Our Green Fuels for Denmark (GFDK) project, Yara Sluiskil, HySCALE, and our Lingen Green Hydrogen projects have all been shortlisted as IPCEI projects in their respective countries and now await the final IPCEI approval by the EU Commission and the subsequent funding commitment”, the company states in its annual report.

Last year, Ørsted entered an agreement with Danish utility HOFOR to source renewable power for the next phases of the Green Fuels for Denmark (GFDK) project from their 250 MW offshore wind farm Aflandshage, which is expected to deliver first power by 2024/2025.

The project was selected for EU notification as an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) by the Danish Business Authority as one of only two Danish projects, according to Ørsted.

“Now, we await the final IPCEI approval by the EU Commission expected in the first half of 2022 and the subsequent Danish funding commitment”, the company said.

The HySCALE project in Germany and the Yara Sluiskil project in the Netherlands have also been selected for EU notification as IPCEI projects and also await approval and subsequent potential funding.

The Lingen Green Hydrogen project in Germany is part of the next wave of projects to be pre-notified by the EU Commission, said Ørsted, which last month also joined forces with German steel major Salzgitter on development of green power, green hydrogen, and low-carbon steel production with a focus on circularity.

The companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), defining their joint approach which, in addition to the supply of offshore wind power and the use of renewable hydrogen at Salzgitter, includes the production of low-carbon steel and its use in the components for Ørsted’s offshore wind farms.

Salzgitter and Ørsted also plan to recycle scrap from decommissioned wind turbines into the steel production process.

Last month, the company also signed an agreement with Liquid Wind, a Swedish green e-methanol developer, to acquire a 45 per cent stake in their project FlagshipONE, expected to produce 50,000 tonnes of e-methanol per year, based on renewable hydrogen and biogenic CO2.