Quartet to study green hydrogen production offshore Germany

RWE, Shell, Gasunie, and Equinor have signed a declaration of intent to further intensify their collaboration on the first large-scale offshore hydrogen park in the German North Sea.

The AquaSector project aims to demonstrate that in Germany offshore-based hydrogen production enables an efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable way to produce green hydrogen.

The AquaSector project intends to install about 300-MW electrolyser capacity to produce up to 20,000 tons per year of green hydrogen offshore. The green hydrogen is planned to be transported via a pipeline, called AquaDuctus, to Heligoland starting in 2028.

According to Equinor, the partners see the project also as a ‘proof of concept’ for the realisation of the AquaVentus vision of producing up to ten GW of green hydrogen offshore by 2035 and transporting it via an extended pipeline to mainland Germany.

Compared with the transport of electricity generated offshore, the hydrogen production at sea and the transport via pipeline could offer economic advantages. The pipeline could replace five high voltage direct current transmission systems, which would otherwise have to be built.

The project can support the development of the market which will bring a rapidly increasing demand for green hydrogen, Equinor said. The partners will carry out a detailed feasibility study. This will provide initial indications of the conditions under which the large-scale park can be successfully realised as well as the technical and commercial challenges which need to be overcome for offshore hydrogen production.

AquaSector is a key milestone in the implementation of the German and European hydrogen strategies, according to Equinor.

Source: Offshore Magazine