Page 29: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 2023)

HYDROGEN & RENEWABLE ENERGY tion project is planned for 2023. plants, with power sold to the highest goal is a set of decision-making tools for

Like many early ideas, Seaguel’s trajec- bidder, e.g., someone who wants to use offshore renewable hydrogen production, tory has shifted. Benoit said the windfarm green energy to produce H2. Dedicated with a focus on wind farms.

operator has stepped back, but Sofresid is generation could emerge but absent a Marie Robert is offshore renew- keeping it active. Current efforts are fo- regulatory framework the business case able energy research project manager cused on scaling up from 5MW produc- is dif? cult. Otarishvili said that under at FEM. She presented the OPHARM tion to 500MW to better evaluate project normal conditions industries pay around project at Sea Tech. The model will economics. Next year Sofresid plans to $1.55/kg for “grey hydrogen.” Offshore present comparative analyses for costs, collaborate with other research partners, green H2, delivered, costs between $8- carbon footprint, H2 carriers and energy working towards a demonstration at sea $10/kg. That delta has to be addressed. If ef? ciency. The aim is to identify favor- by the end of 2025 or early 2026. H2 is a larger public policy goal, should able outcomes.

Davit Otarishvili is a Business Devel- it be subsidized in a way that is similar to Topics of particular interest include: opment Manager Offshore with RWE, offshore wind subsidies? ¦Location and sizing of the one of Germany’s largest green elec- It’s Otarishvili’s view that “if things electrolyzer tricity generation and green hydrogen go in the right direction, we should be ¦How to transport the H2 product producer companies. Otarishvili partici- on the right road by 2030.” He noted ¦Distance from coast pated in the Sea Tech session, focusing that H2 by itself may not be the only ¦Production priorities: electricity on development opportunities. RWE is a endpoint. Opportunities are emerging vs. H2, and exporting one only member of France Energie Marine. RWE in the maritime sector for methanol and after certain production goals is involved in more than 30 green H2 ammonia, relatively new fuels linked to are met for the priority product.

projects worldwide, including the Aqua- hydrogen projects and production. Again, French energy planners want

Ventus project which seeks to establish To help take some of the guess work answers sooner, not later. Marie Robert electrolysis units in the North Sea by out of hydrogen decisions France Energie said an initial version of OPHARM will 2035, units capable of producing 1 mil- Marine has undertaken a project called be ready in March 2023. It will likely lion metric tons of green hydrogen, and OPHARM – “Offshore production of start to make dif? cult decisions about a Netherlands project called “H2opZee” hydrogen analysis and roadmap.” The H2 much clearer.

focusing on offshore H2 production and possible reuse of existing pipelines.

In an interview Otarishvili did not sugar-coat the technical hurdles that stand between ideas about H2 today and actual use within a relatively short timeline, say, by 2030. Otarishvili said that new demands from the transporta- tion sector are central to expanding H2 opportunities. Transport demands - not just from ships, of course - are expected to be at a scale that will draw the huge investments necessary to build and op- erate the requisite H2 infrastructure.

Otarishvili said recent US policy moves on H2 are particularly promising.

Energy subsidies also present chal- lenges. For example, wind generation now is largely committed to public utility markets because the costs are subsidized by ratepayers and state and federal taxes and energy credits. There are singular offtake agreements, with major compa- nies, for example, seeking to establish a green pro? le, but offshore publicly subsidized windfarms aren’t merchant www.marinelink.com 29

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