TotalEnergies, GIG, and RIDG Planning Industrial-Scale Green Hydrogen Hub Powered by Offshore Wind
Offshore Wind Power Limited (OWPL), the consortium formed by Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG), energy company TotalEnergies, and Scottish developer Renewable Infrastructure Development Group (RIDG), announced today it is studying the use of offshore wind to power the production of green hydrogen on an industrial scale on the island of Flotta in Scotland.
Edward Northam, Head of Green Investment Group Europe, said:
“We believe that green hydrogen could provide a critical alternative route to market for some of Scotland’s largest offshore wind projects and play a significant role in creating wider economic benefits as the North Sea goes through its energy transition. We look forward to working with the Flotta partners to continue to develop this proposal.”
The plan follows the formation of the partnership between TotalEnergies, GIG, and RIDG in June 2021, in order to bid for sites in Scotland’s multi-billion dollar, 10GW offshore wind project, ScotWind. Last month, the partners submitted their proposal to develop the N1 plan option area west of Orkney.
According to the companies, the plan for the “West of Orkney Wind Farm” includes delivering renewable energy to power an industrial scale green hydrogen hub planned for Flotta.
Julien Pouget Senior Vice President Renewables, TotalEnergies, said:
“TotalEnergies believes in the potential of renewable offshore wind power to produce green hydrogen, supporting our companies to meet their ambition in terms of carbon neutrality. With our proposed West of Orkney windfarm, there is an opportunity to create one of the world’s first green hydrogen plants in Orkney. It is an exciting plan, and we look forward to working on it with our partners and Orkney stakeholders.”
Plans to power the proposed Flotta Hydrogen Hub are being in partnership with Flotta Terminal’s owner Repsol Sinopec and energy company Uniper.
Mike Hay, RIDG Commercial Director, said:
“The production of green hydrogen is a hugely exciting opportunity for both offshore wind and the Scottish supply chain. Projects with substantial capacity factors, such as the West of Orkney Windfarm, could deliver highly competitive power to facilities like the Flotta Hydrogen Hub which could, in turn, supply demand for hydrogen both nationally and internationally.
We’ve therefore committed to working exclusively with our partners to investigate this opportunity thoroughly and have already completed cable routing assessments and nearshore geophysical surveys to better understand the practical aspects of project delivery.”