The Hydrogen Stream: 30 GW power-to-X project in Mauritania, 250 MW of wind for power-to-X in Denmark

Share

The government of Mauritania and renewable energy developer CWP Global have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a 30 GW power-to-X project. “This momentous announcement sets the stage for development work to begin on what will be the world’s biggest renewable energy project, exporting green hydrogen and its derivatives to global markets,” reads the note released last week, adding that the hybrid wind and solar project will be located in the north of the country on a desert site of approximately 8,500km2. According to CWP, the $40 billion (€32.7 billion) project promises “some of the cheapest clean energy in the world.”

Danish power company Ørsted and Copenhagen’s utility, Hofor, have entered into an agreement that will secure green power in the framework of the wider, 1.3 GW, Green Fuels for Denmark project. The two companies will coordinate on a 250 MW offshore wind farm project in the Oresund Strait, and the linked power-to-X plant. “Green Fuels for Denmark is a large scale flagship project ideally suited to realizing Denmark's great potential as a producer of sustainable fuels for heavy transport,” Anders Nordstrøm, head of Ørsted's hydrogen activities, commented in a note released on Monday. Last week, Ørsted signed an agreement with Posco Group, one of the largest conglomerates in Korea, to develop Ørsted's 1.6 GW offshore wind projects off the coast of Incheon City, in South Korea, and to conduct feasibility studies on potential collaboration on renewable hydrogen.

California-based clean energy technologies developer NewHydrogen said that researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) recently created a non-precious-metal-based catalyst that demonstrated significant improvement of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in acidic conditions. NewHydrogen sponsored the research. “Though the intrinsic activity and OER kinetics of the new catalyst may be somewhat lower than those of precious-metal-based catalysts,” the company said, “its low cost and high durability make it a good candidate toward the commercial water electrolysis systems operating at high current densities.” The researchers plan on scaling up the process for studies in electrolyzers in a later phase,” said NewHydrogen on Tuesday.

Danish electrolyzer maker Green Hydrogen Systems has announced its intention to launch an initial public offering on Nasdaq Copenhagen. “The contemplated IPO will enable Green Hydrogen Systems to continue to ramp up our production facilities [and] organization and to accelerate R&D efforts to reduce [the] costs of green hydrogen and make it a compelling energy carrier of the future,” the company said in a statement last week. Green Hydrogen Systems will publish a prospectus when the final decision about the IPO takes place. The plan is to raise DKK1 billion (€134 million). Green Hydrogen Systems is already teaming up with Danish companies and stakeholders, like state pension fund ATP; the Danish growth fund, Nordea; and Maersk owner A.P. Moller Holding. It is also part of the GreenHyScale project, which is applying for a €30 million grant to demonstrate a minimum 100 MW of green electrolysis based on a novel multi-megawatt-range alkaline electrolyzer platform delivered by Green Hydrogen Systems and installed at GreenLab Skive.

Belgian research centers imec and VITO, steel wire transformation and coatings company Bekaert, supermarket retail company Colruyt Group, dredging and land reclamation expert DEME, and mechanical engineering group John Cockerill, have joined forces to invest in the production of green hydrogen in Belgium. “Under the flag of Hyve, the consortium aims at a cost-efficient and sustainable production of hydrogen at a gigawatt level. “Hyve will put the Flemish region in the [driving] seat for the deployment of a hydrogen economy and the transition towards a carbon neutral industry in Europe,” the group of Flemish companies said last week. It mentioned the use of green hydrogen in the heavy transport, chemical, steel, and cement industries. “What is unique about Hyve is that the consortium is made up of parties who are developing new electrolysis components; parties who will integrate the new components into their electrolyzers; and parties who will use this infrastructure to generate green hydrogen for various purposes.”

Australia-based Global Energy Ventures has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Germany-based ILF Consulting Engineers to identify and develop green hydrogen projects in Europe and Australia, which will include GEV’s C-H2 shipping solution. “The MoU with ILF will establish GEV’s launch into Europe with one of the world’s leading engineering firms with expertise in the design and implementation of green hydrogen projects. ILF’s experience in hydrogen, strong reputation in project delivery, and long-standing relationships will be beneficial to GEV in Europe while we will also look to ILF’s expertise across the value chain for hydrogen projects in Australia,” Martin Carolan, GEV managing director, commented in a note released on Monday. The term of the MoU is valid until 31 December 2022 and can be extended by mutual agreement. Australia has now announced six of the top 20 gigawatt-scale green hydrogen projects, supported by export markets that should include Germany.

This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.

Popular content

Concentrated solar power, a much cheaper solution than batteries for energy storage
05 November 2024 By offering cheap energy storage, concentrating solar power has a huge potential. However, it requires international standards to become a competitive...