The consortium behind the OYSTER project comprising of ITM Power, Ørsted, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, and Element Energy has received EUR 5 million from The Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH2-JU). FCH2-JU is a public private partnership of the European Commission.
This funding is aimed to assist in demonstration and investigation of the feasibility of combining an offshore wind turbine directly with an electrolyser and transporting renewable hydrogen to shore. The consortium will develop and test a megawatt-scale fully marinised electrolyser in a shoreside pilot trial which will be coordinated by Element Energy.
The project is planned to start in 2021 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2024. ITM Power is responsible for the development of the electrolyser system and the electrolyser trials. Ørsted will lead the offshore deployment analysis, the feasibility study of future physical offshore electrolyser deployments, and support ITM Power in the design of the electrolyser system for marinisation and testing. Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy and Element Energy are providing technical and project expertise.
These consortium partners aim to work towards producing hydrogen from offshore wind at costs that are competitive with natural gas. This will help unlocking bulk markets for green hydrogen thereby reduce CO2 emissions and facilitate the transition to a fully renewable energy system in Europe.