This year, wind generation reached its highest production point in several parts of the world for the first time. In some instances, big offshore wind farms pump out more electricity than is required by the given country. Such as at the time when COVID-19 lockdown hit the world and demand for electricity suddenly went down.
Researchers are now playing with the proposal of utilizing excess wind energy to produce hydrogen. This idea has sparked great interest for several reasons. As mentioned under the Paris Climate Agreement, governments find this to be a great idea as they were looking to transition towards greener energy systems within 30 years. This upcoming group of projects will be a considerable development for Global Hydrogen Market as the essential component that is a part of these systems is hydrogen which can also be used in vehicles and power plants. Hence, manufacturers want to increase the production of hydrogen as it produces zero gas emissions when burnt. Even though environmental is a crucial factor revolving around increased production of hydrogen, economics is involved too. Large-scale hydrogen electrolyzers are readily available in the market today. In addition, the cost of installing wind turbines has reduced considerably. This will make the production of this gas further economical.
Now, leading players in the market want to generate hydrogen directly from offshore wind. Dolphyn aims to do this through floating wind turbines which will contain desalination equipment to remove salt from seawater. There would also be electrolyzers that would be responsible for splitting the resultant freshwater into oxygen and hydrogen.
Another Wind turbine maker, Siemens Gamesa, and energy firm Siemens Energy have decided to invest $ 145 Million in developing an offshore turbine that will have a built-in electrolyzer. Tractebel, a German Energy Company, investigates the possibility of building an offshore hydrogen production plant on a large scale. It will be powered by nearby wind turbines. Neptune Energy, which is headquartered in the United Kingdom, is also seeking to convert an oil platform into a hydrogen-producing station. The project will pump hydrogen to the Netherlands through pipes that are currently used to transport natural gas. Oyster is yet another project in this sector that involves a group of companies who have decided to take part in this race of producing hydrogen through the offshore wind market.
All big players in the world, governments and corporations alike, are interested in producing hydrogen due to its potential uses. It can work as a furl for gas-burning boilers in domestic households. Although converting domestic gas grids to provide hydrogen and fitting homes with boilers would be a huge risk, it would mean that excess wind energy would not go to waste. Another important use of hydrogen is in vehicles etc. This makes everyone excited to establish a method with which extra electricity can be produced by offshore wind.