Enterprize Energy has revealed plans to build a $10bn, 4GW offshore wind farm off southwest Ireland to power a 3.2GW onshore green hydrogen project.
The Singapore-based developer, which is also developing the 3.4GW Thang Long offshore project in Vietnam, has signed a precursor to a power-purchase agreement with the developers of the planned Green Marlin hydrogen facility at Bantry Bay, southwest Ireland — a joint venture between Houston-based fuel storage company Zenith Energy and local business E1-H2 that was announced in July.
Although the subsidy-free offshore wind farm would be built in deep waters, Enterprize is not planning to use floating foundations. Instead, it wants to employ articulated wind columns designed by Offshore Design Engineering — essentially monopiles up to 200 metres long with a joint at the seabed that allows the turbine to tilt in the waves and winds — a technology that has been used in the oil and gas industry.
“We see Europe as being a net consumer of green hydrogen,” Enterprize chief executive Ian Hatton told Bloomberg. “Our overall model is about developing production of green hydrogen in locations where the natural resources are going to give you the lowest cost and then bring it into the market, so Ireland, to us, is a key hub in that strategy.
“For the past year we’ve been targeting locations where we can effectively play join-the-dots with projects that will bring low-cost hydrogen to Europe and maybe to Japan.”
Hatton says that the hydrogen produced at the 4GW project could be converted into liquid ammonia, which is cheaper to transport than H2.
In a recent exclusive interview with Recharge, Hatton said that Enterprize is considering expanding its 3.4GW Thang Long project by another 2GW, with the additional capacity used to produce green hydrogen.
The company is now working with engineering group Tractabel Overdick on a wind-powered offshore platform concept with built-in electrolysers to produce green hydrogen, and even machines to convert it into ammonia, for direct loading onto vessels, independently from the onshore grid.
Enterprize also recently signed a cooperation pact with the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte to pursue opportunities for offshore wind deployment there by the end of the decade.
