The Anonymous Widower

Do RWE Have A Comprehensive Hydrogen Plan For Germany?

What is interesting me, is what Germany company; RWE is up to. They are one of the largest UK electricity producers.

In December 2023, they probably paid a low price, for the rights for 3 x 1.4 GW wind farms about 50 km off North-East Norfolk from in-trouble Swedish company; Vattenfall and have signed contracts to build them fairly fast.

In March 2024, wrote about the purchase in RWE And Vattenfall Complete Multi-Gigawatt Offshore Wind Transaction In UK.

Over the last couple of years, I have written several posts about these three wind farms.

March 2023 – Vattenfall Selects Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone O&M Base

November 2023 – Aker Solutions Gets Vattenfall Nod To Start Norfolk Vanguard West Offshore Platform

December 2023 – SeAH To Deliver Monopiles For Vattenfall’s 2.8 GW Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Project

December 2023 – Vestas and Vattenfall Sign 1.4 GW Preferred Supplier Agreement For UK Offshore Wind Project And Exclusivity Agreements For 2.8 GW For Two Other UK Projects

Then in July 2023, I wrote Vattenfall Stops Developing Major Wind Farm Offshore UK, Will Review Entire 4.2 GW Zone

Note.

1. There does appear to be a bit of a mix-up at Vattenfall, judging by the dates of the reports.Only, one wind farm has a Contract for Difference.
2. It is expected that the other two will be awarded contracts in Round 6, which should be by Summer 2024.

In December 2023, I then wrote RWE Acquires 4.2-Gigawatt UK Offshore Wind Development Portfolio From Vattenfall.

It appears that RWE paid £963 million for the three wind farms.

I suspect too, they paid for all the work Vattenfall had done.

This transaction will give RWE 4.2 GW of electricity in an area with very bad connections to the National Grid and the Norfolk Nimbies will fight the building of more pylons.

So have the Germans bought a pup?

I don’t think so!

Where Is Wilhemshaven?

This Google Map shows the location of Wilhemshaven.

Note.

1. Heligoland is the island at the top of the map.
2. The Germans call this area the Wdden Sea.
3. The estuaries lead to Wilhelmshaven and Bremerhaven.
4. Cuxhaven is the port for Heligoland, which is connected to Hamburg by hydrogen trains.

This second map shows between Bremerhaven and Wilhelmshaven.

Note.

1. Wilhelmshaven is to the West.
2. Bremerhaven is in the East.
3. The River Weser runs North-South past Bremerhaven.

I’ve explored the area by both car and train and it is certainly worth a visit.

The Wilhemshaven Hydrogen Import Terminal

German energy company; Uniper is building a hydrogen import terminal at Wilhemshaven to feed German industry with hydrogen from places like Australia, Namibia and the Middle East. I wrote about this hydrogen import terminal in Uniper To Make Wilhelmshaven German Hub For Green Hydrogen; Green Ammonia Import Terminal.

I suspect RWE  could build a giant offshore electrolyser close to the Norfolk wind farms and the hydrogen will be exported by tanker or pipeline  to Germany or to anybody else who pays the right price.

All this infrastructure will be installed and serviced from Great Yarmouth, so we’re not out of the deal.

Dogger Bank South Wind Farm

To make matters better, RWE have also signed to develop the 3 GW Dogger Bank South wind farm.

This could have another giant electrolyser to feed German companies. The wind farm will not need an electricity connection to the shore.

The Germans appear to be taking the hydrogen route to bringing electricity ashore.

Energy Security

Surely, a short trip across the North Sea, rather than a long trip from Australia will be much more secure and on my many trips between the Haven Ports and The Netherlands, I haven’t yet seen any armed Houthi pirates.

RWE And Hydrogen

On this page on their web site, RWE has a lot on hydrogen.

Very Interesting!

H2ercules

This web site describes H2ercules.

The goal of the H2ercules initiative is to create the heart of a super-sized hydrogen infrastructure for Germany by 2030. To make this happen, RWE, OGE and, prospectively, other partners are working across various steps of the value chain to enable a swift supply of hydrogen from the north of Germany to consumers in the southern and western areas of the country. In addition to producing hydrogen at a gigawatt scale, the plan is also to open up import routes for green hydrogen. The transport process will involve a pipeline network of about 1,500 km, most of which will consist of converted gas pipelines.

Where’s the UK’s H2ercules?

Conclusion

The Germans have got there first and will be buying up all of our hydrogen to feed H2ercules.

 

May 29, 2024 - Posted by AnonW | Energy, Hydrogen | Dogger Bank South Wind Farm, Electricity Transmission, Electrolysis, Germany, Great Yarmouth, H2ercules, National Grid, Nimbies, Norfolk, Norfolk Boreas Wind Farm, Norfolk Vanguard East Wind Farm, Norfolk Vanguard West Wind Farm, Norfolk Vanguard Wind Farm, Offshore Hydrogen Production, RWE, SeAH Wind, Uniper, Vattenfall, Vestas, Wilhelmshaven