Lhyfe, a green hydrogen production specialist, said Tuesday that its offshore green hydrogen production pilot Sealhyfe recently started producing green hydrogen in what the company said is a world first.
The Sealhyfe platform was recently towed 20 kilometers out into the Atlantic, off France, and connected with the SEM-REV power hub.
"As of June 20 2023, the platform began producing its first kilos of offshore hydrogen, marking a decisive milestone for the future of the sector. The progress of the Sealhyfe trial once again demonstrates Lhyfe’s ability to bring about concrete advances in the hydrogen industry and at great strides," Lhyfe said.
"In launching, the world’s first offshore hydrogen production pilot, Lhyfe wanted to prove the technical feasibility of such a project and acquire the operational experience needed to quickly scale up. The company, therefore voluntarily chose to confront Sealhyfe with the toughest conditions," Lhyfe said.
After an initial phase of trials at quay, the Sealhyfe platform joined Centrale Nantes’ SEM-REV offshore testing site, off Le Croisic, France, in the Atlantic Ocean.
Lhyfe said that the technology would be tested under real conditions, on a floating platform, which has been re-engineered to stabilize the production unit at sea (the WAVEGEM platform, engineered by GEPS Techno), and connected to Central Nantes’ SEM-REV offshore testing hub operated by the OPEN-C Foundation, which is already linked with a floating wine turbine (FLOATGEN, engineered and operated by BW Ideol).
For this, Lhyfe says that it, with its partners designed, built, and assembled all of the technology necessary for producing hydrogen offshore, including the 1 MW electrolyzer supplied by Plug, in just 16 months. The Sealhyfe platform, which is less than 200 sq. meters in area, can produce up to 400 kilograms of hydrogen a day.
"In achieving the reliable offshore production of hydrogen in an isolated environment, the company will develop a unique operating capability which involves managing the platform’s movement and environmental stresses, and validating green and renewable hydrogen production software and algorithms," Lhyfe said.
Lhyfe has also announced that the HOPE project, which it is coordinating as part of a consortium of nine partners, has been selected by the European Commission under the European Clean Hydrogen Partnership and is being awarded a €20 million grant.
"With HOPE, Lhyfe and its partners are moving up a gear and aiming for commercialization. This unprecedentedly large-scale project (10 MW) will be able to produce up to four tonnes a day of green hydrogen at sea, which will be exported ashore by pipeline, and then compressed and delivered to customers.
"Through these two pioneering projects in offshore hydrogen production, Lhyfe aims to validate industrial solutions which it will submit in response to future calls for projects from various governments, to help achieve the target set by the European Commission as part of the REPowerEU plan of 10 million tonnes of clean hydrogen produced in the European Union by 2030," Lhyfe said.
To achieve this, Lhyfe has already signed partnership agreements with wind turbine developers and offshore power specialists, such as EDPR, Centrica and Capital Energy.
Matthieu Guesné, Founder and CEO of Lhyfe said: “Our team – supported brilliantly by our partners – has achieved a genuine feat of technology in successfully designing this first floating green hydrogen production site. We are extremely proud to be the first in the world to produce [green] hydrogen at sea.
"This has been our wish since the launch of the company and we continue to move very quickly on offshore, which for us represents a tremendous development opportunity for mass producing hydrogen and decarbonizing industry and transport. We are continuing to build on the successes we have had so far, firstly to prove to the world that transition is possible today, and of course to accelerate it.”
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