Ramboll has been selected to investigate the feasibility of producing hydrogen offshore at a multi-gigawatt scale with NortH2 in the Dutch part of the North Sea.
The NortH2 consortium, which comprises Eneco, RWE, Equinor, and Shell is, together with Gasunie, investigating how all aspects of the hydrogen value chain – from production to transmission storage – can be developed in coordination.
The aim is to establish a multi-gigawatt wind farm in the North Sea connected to an onshore hydrogen facility from where the hydrogen will be distributed through the European hydrogen backbone to industrial clusters in the Netherlands and Northern Europe.
NortH2 aims to produce green hydrogen using electricity from about 4 GW of offshore wind off the coast of the Netherlands by 2030, and 10 GW by 2040.
Among the concepts to be considered are electrolysis on an offshore platform and directly at the base of the wind turbines.
Ramboll will be investigating feasible wind farm designs, electrolyser technologies, and green hydrogen transport.
Additionally, the company will develop environmental impact assessments, levelised cost of hydrogen calculations, market studies, and business cases for each concept.
The feasibility study’s results, which will serve as the backdrop for offshore hydrogen production in the Dutch North Sea in 2030–2035, will be released in January 2023.
“When we have completed the study, we will be able to give NortH2 a full overview of their options in terms of the investment required, the most suitable technologies, the impact on their surroundings and a road map for how to integrate the offshore hydrogen production in the market”, said Milko Binza Moussirou , Senior Chief Project Manager at Ramboll.