2050: Power-to-hydrogen opportunities for far offshore wind farms

In 2050, the Netherlands’ goal is to have a fully renewable energy mix, mainly composed of solar and wind energy to supply electricity. In this way, the country will meet the environmental targets to reduce the carbon emissions by 90%. The offshore wind installed capacity in the Netherlands was approved to increase to 11.5 GW by 2030. In the period 2030-2050, a growth rate of projects of 1.5-2.5 GW per year could lead to a total installed capacity of 50 GW in the Dutch area of the North Sea, with half installed far offshore.The Dogger Bank region is a very attractive location to develop this project due to the average high average wind speeds and relatively shallow waters. However, the distance from shore to this geographical location can be up to 400 kilometres, requiring High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission methodswhich are more expensive compared to the current grid connection techniques. Furthermore, the Netherlands’ TSO has presented a three-phase plan to build an island to collect, convert and transmit all the electricity produced in the Dogger Bank region to shore.By producing hydrogen, the offshore wind farms of the future can supply green hydrogen to decarbonise other sectors. Furthermore, this could represent opportunities to optimise the transmission of energy, by choosing cables, pipelines, or a combination of both. Thereafter, this research presents the benefits and cost implications of transforming the excess electricity into hydrogen through electrolysis in a 2050 scenario.Electrical Engineering | Sustainable Energy Technolog