Tower-2-X

Challenge

In the green transition, hydrogen is poised to become a key factor in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. For years, “grey” and “blue” hydrogen have been produced from coal and gas, leading to high CO2 emissions. The planned phase-out of internal combustion engines in cars by 2035 has driven the oil industry to focus on hydrogen, as it can be converted into methanol and ammonia—green fuels for ships, airplanes, and heavy transport. The transport sector accounts for 24% of global CO2 emissions. Hydrogen is also expected to play a significant role in reducing CO2 emissions in the agriculture sector and in the steel and concrete industries, which contribute 11% and 8% of global CO2 emissions, respectively.

Green hydrogen, produced from renewable energy sources, could become the oil industry’s primary future revenue stream, prompting significant investments in the sector.

In 2022, Shell, which owns and operates approximately 10% of the world’s hydrogen electrolysis capacity, launched Holland Hydrogen I. By 2025, this will be Europe’s largest green hydrogen plant, featuring a 200 MW electrolyzer powered by offshore wind energy. Electricity from offshore wind turbines will be transmitted to Rotterdam Port, where the hydrogen plant is being built.

The demand for hydrogen is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years, creating several challenges with the current approach:

• Limited space in port areas for building hydrogen plants.
• Energy conversion losses of approximately 7% when transmitting electricity to shore.
• High offshore cabling costs, which are expected to rise as infrastructure expansion on land becomes necessary. For example, Ramboll estimates that Denmark’s grid expansion alone will cost DKK 110 billion. Additionally, there will be resource constraints as global demand for infrastructure development increases.

In response, companies like Shell and Siemens Gamesa are exploring offshore hydrogen plants. This approach would address space constraints in ports, reduce conversion losses, and eliminate the need for offshore-to-land cabling. According to DTU, hydrogen transport could be 7-10 times more cost-efficient than electricity transmission. While this shift introduces new challenges, the overall savings could outweigh the costs. Nordic Hydrogen’s innovative solution directly addresses these challenges.

Solution

According to Kenneth Thomsen, Division Head of Wind Turbine Design at DTU, there is a strong incentive to develop and optimize offshore wind turbines specifically for hydrogen production. Collaborating with Siemens Gamesa, DTU is exploring designs that consider these turbines as off-grid systems. This would enable cost savings on power electronics traditionally used to adapt electricity for the grid's 50 Hz frequency.

Nordic Hydrogen has developed an innovative method for hydrogen production and is in the process of securing three patents for its new design. The design allows for the vertical construction of hydrogen plants, reducing the footprint by over 30% and weight by 45% compared to leading competitors. These optimizations enable the integration of the hydrogen plant into the wind turbine tower itself.

This breakthrough design results in significant savings on additional foundations for offshore hydrogen plants and aligns with the optimized design of wind turbines.

Nordic Hydrogen’s Tower-to-X solution directly addresses future challenges, including space constraints at ports, offshore wind turbine cabling, energy conversion losses, and the need for additional foundations. Tower-to-X is highly market-relevant, as the oil industry increasingly demands solutions to optimize offshore hydrogen plants, making hydrogen production competitive and profitable.

Impact

At the project's start, the technology will be at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 2, and by the end, it is expected to reach TRL 6. Upon project completion, partnerships will be formed, and funding secured for a full-scale Tower-to-X plant. Nordic Hydrogen already has several potential partners among Energy Cluster Denmark’s members.

This project has the potential to revolutionize offshore hydrogen production, making it a pivotal contributor to the green transition.