IBOH2P: Installation and operational strategies for offshore hydrogen production

At a glance

• Although hydrogen production from offshore wind energy is already an integral part of Germany’s energy strategy, many questions concerning the implementation of these plans remain unanswered.
• In the IBOH₂P research project, the project partners are working on a comprehensive economic feasibility analysis that will evaluate various concepts for hydrogen production at sea and incorporate real operational data from megawatt-scale electrolyzers for the first time.
• In addition to coordinating the project, Fraunhofer IWES is also responsible for the development of a software demonstrator among other tasks.

The challenge

Offshore wind energy plays a key role in the German National Hydrogen Strategy. For example, the plan to couple offshore wind energy and hydrogen production in the North Sea by 2035 has already reached a capacity of more than 10 GW, including a hydrogen pipeline from the island of Heligoland to the mainland. In addition, a prototype for a 14-MW offshore wind turbine with a connected electrolyzer off the coast of Heligoland is also under development.

However, many questions concerning the implementation of these plans remain unanswered. In particular, the operational and maintenance phase still represents a major unknown. For example, efforts to date to establish a levelized cost of energy (LCoE) or hydrogen (LCoH) for hydrogen production in the North Sea reveal enormous uncertainties where the calculation of operating costs is concerned. One reason for this is that the operating behavior of megawatt-scale electrolyzers has been scarcely documented up until now and the reliability of the technical components involved when working together as a system is largely unknown.

The solution

This is where the IBOH₂P research project comes in. The aim is to compile a comprehensive economic feasibility analysis of the various concepts for hydrogen production at offshore wind energy turbines in the German North and Baltic Sea. Real operational data from megawatt-scale electrolyzers will be incorporated for the first time.

The scope of the analysis will encompass both the development of the hydrogen production capacity and the operational strategies, maintenance measures, and associated offshore logistical processes. To this end, innovative reliability models for emerging hydrogen production technologies will be developed and applied. Repair and maintenance routines will be tested on actual systems at the Hydrogen Lab Bremerhaven and adapted for offshore operations on the basis of the results. They will then be integrated into operational phase simulation models.

In addition to coordinating the project, and among other tasks, Fraunhofer IWES is also responsible for the development of a software demonstrator taking into consideration all the methods and models to be developed.

The added value

IBOH₂P represents the next essential step toward the realization of hydrogen production in the North Sea: investigation of the operation of megawatt-scale electrolyzers to develop a reliability model of offshore electrolysis and implementation of the same for direct modeling of the operational and maintenance phase for different locations and operational strategies. The project thus constitutes an important building block for a climate-neutral energy supply.