TotalEnergy Buys Into RWE Dutch Wind Farm to Power Hydrogen Production
The Dutch offshore wind farm OranjeWind in the Hollandse Kust West VII field promises to become one of the most innovative and integrated offshore wind farms. Germany’s RWE which won the tender for the site in 2022 reports it sold 50 percent to France’s TotalEnergies, which then announced it will its portion of the power for the production of green hydrogen.
Located in the North Sea, just over 30 miles off the Dutch coast, OranjeWind calls for an integrated approach matching intermittent electricity production from renewables with flexible energy demand. As part of the integration into the Dutch energy system, each partner will deliver their portion of the power for uses ranging from the electrolyzers for the hydrogen production as well as for smart charging solutions for electric vehicles, e-boilers for heating, and battery storage.
The concept for the OrangeWind project is to accelerate the commercial application of new offshore technologies. To efficiently use the ocean space, an offshore demonstration floating solar farm is currently being developed with SolarDuck. The partners are considering the use of scanning LiDar (Light Detection and Ranging system) that can accurately measure wind at long ranges, and other elements are developing a seabed battery system along with a pumped hydro-storage system.
TotalEnergies will devote its portion of the 795 MW project to power a 350 MW electrolyzer. It will produce about 40,000 tons per year of green hydrogen. This green or low-carbon hydrogen will be used to replace the hydrogen currently used in TotalEnergies’ refineries. They expect will avoid the emission of approximately 400,000 tons of CO2 per year.
The companies did not announce the purchase price for the share of the project but reported that they have jointly taken the final investment decision for the project. It will consist of 53 Vestas 15 MW turbines. RWE will lead the development with offshore construction scheduled to start in 2026. Jan De Nul was contracted to transport and install the foundations and wind turbines, using its floating heavy lift vessel Les Alizés and its jack-up installation vessel Voltaire.
The project will be the first for RWE in the Netherlands. It is expected to be fully commissioned in early 2028. The companies are saying that it will become a model for the industry tackling the challenges of intermittent wind generation and flexible energy demand.