CRUSE Offshore
Wind turbines produce hydrogen offshore
The Hamburg design office “CRUSE Offshore” has developed in cooperation with the shipbuilding professor Moustafa Abdel-Maksoud from the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) and has developed a world innovation of hydrogen production. Up to 140 m high offshore wind turbines are to revolutionize the future of green energy at sea.
Unlike previous offshore wind turbines, they are not bottom-fixed in the seabed. The 5,100 t steel structures are filled with 11,400 t of ballast water, are aligned with the wind, and are even recyclable.
Moreover, the “SelfAligners” are not only more environmentally friendly but also cheaper. The constructions are completed on land and transported by tugboats, in the case of CRUSE Offshore, at the wind farm placed 300 km west of the Irish coast. In the future, this technology will be applicable worldwide.
The 15 MW wind turbines use “single point mooring” buoys, which are star-shaped anchored to the seabed with three anchored to the seabed. When the wind turbines are removed or relocated the wind turbines, they can be easily detached and disposed of. In the so-called “floaters” on the pontoon of the wind turbine there is an evaporator/condensation plant for the conversion of seawater into distilled water. After this conversion, the energy generated by the wind turbine could be used to convert the distilled water into hydrogen and oxygen. The extracted hydrogen would then be produced in gaseous form under high pressure or liquid at -253° C stored and transported.
But the Hamburg developers have thought one step further. With the help of a chemical bond, the hydrogen can be used via the LOHC (Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier) process. The hydrogen is contained in a liquid carrier medium, so it is easy to store and transport, difficult to flammable, and reusable.
After five years, the development team is currently in negotiations to install the first wind turbines. The developers have already received support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action with the partners DNV, the Institute of Fluid Dynamics and Ship Theory, the Institute for Ship Structural Design and Analysis (bothTUHH), aerodyn engineering and Jörss-Blunck-Ordemann. FT
English translation from HANSA International Maritime Journal by CRUSE Offshore GmbH
01/2023
