The Anonymous Widower

Shell To Start Building Europe’s Largest Renewable Hydrogen Plant

The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Shell.

This is the first paragraph.

Shell Nederland B.V. and Shell Overseas Investments B.V., subsidiaries of Shell plc, have taken the final investment decision to build Holland Hydrogen I, which will be Europe’s largest renewable hydrogen plant once operational in 2025.

Theconstruction timeline for Holland Hydrogen 1 is not a long one.

The next paragraph describes the size and hydrogen production capacity.

The 200MW electrolyser will be constructed on the Tweede Maasvlakte in the port of Rotterdam and will produce up to 60,000 kilograms of renewable hydrogen per day.

200 MW is large!

The next paragraph details the source of the power.

The renewable power for the electrolyser will come from the offshore wind farm Hollandse Kust (noord), which is partly owned by Shell.

These are my thoughts.

Refhyne

Refhyne is a joint project between Shell and ITM Power, with backing from the European Commission, that has created a 10 MW electrolyser in Cologne.

The 1300 tonnes of hydrogen produced by this plant will be integrated into refinery processes.

Refhyne seems to have been very much a prototype for Holland Hydrogen 1.

World’s Largest Green Hydrogen Project – With 100MW Electrolyser – Set To Be Built In Egypt

The sub-title is the title, of this article on Recharge.

It looks like Holland Hydrogen 1, is double the current largest plant under construction.

Shell is certainly going large!

Will ITM Power Be Working Again With Shell?

Refhyne has probably given Shell a large knowledge base about ITM Power’s electrolysers.

But Refhyne is only 10 MW and Holland Hydrogen 1 is twenty times that size.

This press release from ITM Power is entitled UK Government Award £9.3 m For Gigastack Testing.

This is the first paragraph.

ITM Power (AIM: ITM), the energy storage and clean fuel company, announces that the Company has been awarded a contract by The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), under its Net Zero Innovation Portfolio Low Carbon Hydrogen Supply 2 Competition, to accelerate the commercial deployment of ITM Power’s 5 MW Gigastack platform and its manufacture. The award for the Gigatest project is for £9.3m and follows initial designs developed through previous BEIS funding competitions.

Note.

1. The Gigastack is 2.5 times bigger, than ITM Power’s previously largest electrolyser.
2. Forty working in parallel, in much the same way that the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids, will be needed for Holland Hydrogen 1.
3. ITM Power have the world’s largest electrolyser factory, with a capacity of one GW. They have plans to create a second factory.

ITM Power would probably be Shell’s low-risk choice.

My company dealt with Shell a lot in the 1970s, with respect to project management software and we felt, that if Shell liked you, they kept giving you orders.

The Hollandse Kust Noord Wind Farm

This wind farm is well described on its web site, where this is the introduction on the home page.

CrossWind, a joint-venture between Shell and Eneco, develops and will operate the Hollandse Kust Noord subsidy-free offshore wind project.

Hollandse Kust Noord is located 18.5 kilometers off the west coast of the Netherlands near the town of Egmond aan Zee.

CrossWind plans to have Hollandse Kust Noord operational in 2023 with an installed capacity of 759 MW, generating at least 3.3 TWh per year.

This Google Map shows the location of Egmond aan Zee.

Note that the red arrow points to Egmond aan Zee.

Will The Electrolyser Be Operational In 2025?

If Shell choose ITM Power to deliver the electrolysers, I don’t think Shell are being that ambitious.

I would suspect that connecting up an electrolyser is not the most complicated of construction tasks.

• Build the foundations.
• Fix the electrolyser in place.
• Connect power to one end.
• Connect gas pipes to the other.
• Switch on and test.

Note.

1. If ITM Power deliver electrolysers that work, then the installation is the sort of task performed on chemical plants all over the world.
2. ITM Power appear to have tapped the UK Government for money to fund thorough testing of the 5 MW Gigastack electrolyser.
3. Enough wind power from Hollandse Kust Noord, should be generated by 2025.

I feel it is very much a low risk project.

Shell’s Offshore Electrolyser Feasibility Study

This is mentioned in this article in The Times, which describes Holland Hydrogen 1, where this is said.

Shell is also still involved in a feasibility study to deploy electrolysers offshore alongside the offshore wind farm. It has suggested this could enable more efficient use of cabling infrastructure.

I very much feel this is the way to go.

Postscript

I found this article on the Dutch Government web site, which is entitled Speech By Prime Minister Mark Rutte At An Event Announcing The Construction Of Holland Hydrogen 1.

This is an extract.

By building Holland Hydrogen 1, Shell will give the Dutch hydrogen market a real boost.
So congratulations are in order.
And this is only the beginning.
Because countless companies and knowledge institutions are working now to generate the hydrogen economy of tomorrow.
The government is supporting this process by investing in infrastructure, and by granting subsidies.
Because we want to achieve our climate goals, though the war in Ukraine won’t make it any easier.
We want to reduce our dependence on Russian gas.
We want the Netherlands to lead the way in the European energy transition.
And all these ambitions are combined in the Holland Hydrogen 1 project.

Mark Rutte seems to believe in hydrogen.

Conclusion

This is a very good example of the sort of large electrolyser, we’ll be seeing all over the world.

In fact, if this one works well, how many 200 MW electrolysers will Shell need all over the world?

Will they all be identical?

 

 

 

 

July 7, 2022 - Posted by AnonW | Energy, Hydrogen | Electrolysis, European Commission, Holland Hydrogen 1, iTM Power, Offshore Wind Power, Refhyne, Shell, The Netherlands, Wind Power