AiP granted for floating offshore hydrogen production plant

The floating offshore hydrogen production plant combines a seawater desalination system and a system to extract hydrogen from water through electrolysis. Using surplus electricity from an offshore wind turbine, the plant can produce green hydrogen that does not emit CO2 during the production process.

In collaboration with Scottish Development International, J-DeEP has been working on a feasibility study of the project to install the plant near offshore wind farms off the coast of Scotland. The technical verification of the plant and the initial feasibility study on its commercialisation have been adopted as one of the “Feasibility studies for the overseas deployment of high-quality energy infrastructure” of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in 2021.

Scotland is at the forefront of offshore wind development globally. In February, Crown Estate Scotland announced details of a new offshore wind leasing process, Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG), where developers will apply for the rights to build small scale innovative offshore wind projects of less than 100MW as well as larger projects connected to oil and gas infrastructure to provide electricity and reduce the carbon emissions associated with those sites.

Michael Matheson MSP, Net Zero and Energy Secretary, said: “The INTOG process will also open the door for smaller, innovative offshore renewables projects to demonstrate their technology, such as for green hydrogen, in Scottish waters and offer the potential for clean energy from offshore wind to support North Sea decarbonisation, building on the huge electricity generating potential already identified through the ScotWind offshore wind leasing round.” The leasing round, concluded in January 2022, includes 17 projects with a combined potential generating capacity of almost 25GW. Approximately 15GW are from floating projects, meaning ScotWind is by far the world’s largest commercial round for floating offshore wind.

Scotland has 12,000km of coastline and more than 790 islands. 25% of Europe’s offshore wind blows around the shores of Scotland, and there is 4GW of offshore wind either operational or under construction, and another 6GW in the pipeline.