From a rich past to a sustainable future: The North Sea as a sustainable source of energy
After centuries of struggle against the water, the Netherlands now sees the North Sea as an ally in the pursuit of a sustainable energy system. The North Sea Energy research program is investigating the path leading to this future. One of the ideas is to create artificial islands where large-scale electricity and green hydrogen transmission can take place.
From the very beginning, the Netherlands has been inextricably linked to the North Sea. Besides the struggle against the water, the Netherlands has also benefitted from the sea: through fishing and through the world-famous Delta Works as the final piece of the Dutch seawall and a successful export product. Starting in the 1970s, gas was also extracted from the North Sea’s seabed, boosting the Dutch energy supply. In 2020, the North Sea is increasingly being viewed as a linchpin in the energy transition. It’s no wonder: this vast area has the ideal conditions for generating electricity from offshore wind energy. An example of a fascinating concept is energy islands where green hydrogen is produced using electricity from offshore wind energy. This is an idea from the North Sea Energy cooperation, led by TNO. The design of the hydrogen production facilities was done by Bilfinger Tebodin.
Reusing infrastructure
“About four years ago, TNO came up with the idea of connecting the electricity generated by offshore wind energy to the existing offshore gas infrastructure,” says Program Manager Madelaine Halter of the North Sea Energy program. “At the time, ambitious plans for the offshore wind sector were started. We foresaw challenges to get all those gigawatts of electricity ashore, especially looking at 2030 and beyond. For this, you will most likely need an infrastructure that goes beyond transporting electrons with electrical cables. And you'd have to leave the infrastructure that is currently there in place: the existing gas platforms with their pipelines to the coast! Because the pipelines that transport natural gas today could probably be used in the future: on the one hand to get the green hydrogen produced at sea ashore, and on the other hand to transport the CO2 captured from the industrial clusters to empty gas fields under the North Sea and store it there. Slowly but surely, an increasingly clear picture emerged from this idea, not to mention the fact that the Netherlands has to phase out the use of natural gas in the future due to climate objectives.”
Eight times cheaper
René de Schutter, Business Development Manager Energy & Environment at Bilfinger Tebodin, explains: “With each passing year, more and more wind farms are being built. The really large wind farms that still need to be constructed will be more than 100 kilometers off the Dutch coast, well out of sight. You can take full advantage of the sea wind there. But it's too far away to efficiently transport the electricity generated to the mainland. The solution: if you produce hydrogen on site from the wind energy generated at sea, you can use pipelines to transport that hydrogen to the mainland. This is a very important difference since the energy density of this method of energy transportation is five to eight times higher than when transporting electrons with a cable. This means it could be eight times cheaper! An additional advantage is that the infrastructure is already in place: namely, the natural gas pipelines that we will no longer need. An artificial island, however, is required. This is where you will build all the necessary installations. And that's what Bilfinger Tebodin has designed.”
More sustainable energy
An energy island like this (see box) is very likely to be feasible, technically speaking. “But if you want to make a new, artificial island in the North Sea, a lot has to be arranged legally and technically, and in terms of permits,” says Madelaine. You also have to deal with a lot of different stakeholders in the North Sea: just think about the fishing industry, defense, or nature reserves. A detailed study is also underway to see how to make all of this possible in terms of costs. Regardless, we have to find a way because there is no question that we have to move away from fossil sources. Also, offshore wind energy certainly offers a promising option for making the electricity supply more sustainable.” René adds: “It really has to be done because society's demands for more sustainable solutions are only increasing. And the coronavirus crisis even led to an acceleration in the pursuit of more sustainable energy. The European Union's new Green Deal states that 2x40 GW of hydrogen production has to be achieved by 2030. Our idea for the energy island fits perfectly within that framework.”
New earnings model
In addition to the social contribution that an energy island can make to the realization of sustainable energy, another interesting aspect is included. Madelaine: “TNO's mission is to connect people and knowledge in order to create innovations that sustainably strengthen companies’ competitiveness and society’s well-being. With this development in sustainable energy production, we can connect these two aspects wonderfully. After all, we want to get rid of gas in the Netherlands, but develop new earning models at the same time.” René: “You hear more and more that the Netherlands is going to invest itself out of the crisis, in a green and sustainable way. You can be sure that this energy island is also something that can become a successful export product!”
The energy island
The concept of the energy island is simple. You build large wind farms in the North Sea that generate a lot of electricity. These wind farms are going to be built anyway: in the next 10 years, 10 GW offshore wind energy locations will exist, and in 2050 this should be 50 or even 60 GW. For one or more wind farms further offshore, you can choose to employ sand suppletion to build an island. On top of that, facilities will be necessary to convert the electricity generated from wind into hydrogen. This works with electrolysis in which water (H2O) is split into hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2) using green electricity. For example, an island measuring 1,000 by 600 meters could accommodate a 3.5 GW electrolyzer and the required auxiliary equipment to produce green hydrogen. Bilfinger Tebodin conducted a feasibility study and designed islands with a total electricity generation capacity of 2 GW, 5 GW, and even 20 GW of connected load. The study looked at how much electricity could be converted to hydrogen in terms of cost. The landed hydrogen will primarily be used for large industrial companies as a raw material for fertilizer, for example, and as a fuel for generating high temperatures for process industries and refineries. Bilfinger Tebodin has contributed to the energy island concept within North Sea Energy by designing the hydrogen production facilities.
North Sea Energy
North Sea Energy was founded in 2018 with more than 25 other parties. “North Sea Energy can essentially be seen as a study consortium led by TNO,” says René de Schutter. “Various parties in the energy value chain participate in the consortium. Topsector Energy (Dutch = Het Topconsortium voor Kennis en Innovatie Nieuw Gas) finances part of the costs, and the additional costs are borne by market participants like us. Bilfinger Tebodin participates in kind, by volunteering some of our work time for North Sea Energy.” Madelaine Halter: “Three phases of our program have already been completed. Earlier phases involved the development of offshore wind farms and the electrification of strategically located gas platforms, which we may need in the future. After that, we started looking at cases and coming up with concepts. The energy island is a solution that we are currently investigating as part of smartly linking the different functions at sea together.”