After Netherlands & Germany, Scotland to Host Offshore Wind-to-Hydrogen Project in North Sea

Salamander 200MW offshore wind farm will accommodate a floating facility to produce hydrogen offshore (wind-to-hydrogen), according to a new memorandum of understanding signed by its developers

A vision of the Salamander project as imagined by its developers. Credit: Salamander Offshore Wind Project website

A vision of the Salamander project (offshore wind-to-hydrogen) as imagined by its developers. Credit: Salamander Offshore Wind Project website

Salamander 200MW offshore wind farm will accommodate a floating facility to produce hydrogen offshore (wind-to-hydrogen), according to a new memorandum of understanding signed by its developers. The memorandum of understanding has been signed with ERM, a sustainability consultancy to use their Dolphyn hydrogen technology. The technology will combine electrolysis, desalination and hydrogen production on a floating wind platform (offshore wind-to-hydrogen). The manufactured hydrogen will be transported to the mainland via a pipeline.

In addition to producing hydrogen, Salamander’s developers and ERM are also considering collaborations with other partners. In particular, the partners want to explore opportunities in Scotland’s emerging hydrogen infrastructure. They are also considering connecting with other companies to blend hydrogen with the existing gas infrastructure. Scotland’s main gas owner and operator, SGN has announced the development of a hydrogen economy in Aberdeen and surrounding areas. Salamander’s developers and ERM want to integrate their wind farm with the Scottish government’s North East Network and Industrial Cluster Project.

Emma Harrick, Energy Transition and Supply Chain Manager at industry body Scottish Renewables said: “Supply chain organisations need time to improve their competitiveness for large-scale commercial deployments necessary to meet Scotland’s ambition to increase the amount of offshore wind in its waters tenfold by 2030. Smaller offshore projects like Salamander can provide a useful stepping-stone for suppliers hoping to upskill, learn and invest with the aim of benefiting from the multi-billion-pound opportunity of global decarbonisation.”

Salamander is being planned in deep waters off the north-east coast of Scotland. This will make the use of floating platforms necessary as opposed to fixed-bottom foundations, enabling the construction of a floating hydrogen facility (wind-to-hydrogen). The wind farm itself is being planned at a site near the Saint Fergus Gas Terminal. The location is ideal for the decarbonisation of North Sea energy production. As of now, ERM is planning to start a 10MW pilot project to demonstrate the capacity of Dolphyn to produce hydrogen offshore. This will enable the partners to scale up operations at Salamander. Salamander and ERM Dolphyn will engage in further engineering work in the coming months to assess the potential deployment of the technology within the project.

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