Green energy coming to Oostende

Photo: Port of Oostende

Port of Oostende, DEME Concessions and PMV partnered up to construct an operational plant for green hydrogen production by 2025. The end product, HYPORT Oostende, will serve as an energy source for electricity, transport, heat and fuel purposes, as well as raw material for industrial needs.

Phase one will encompass general feasibility analysis and the creation of a development plan, followed by a demonstration project with mobile shore-based power and an electrolyser of approx. 50 MW. A large-scale shore-based power project, running on hydrogen, is planned to go live by 2022. Completion of a commercial green hydrogen plant, planned in context of new offshore wind concessions, should happen by the end of 2025.

By the end of 2020, 399 wind turbines will be operating off the Belgian coast with a combined installed capacity of 2.26 GW. The new marine spatial plan leaves space for several hundred more wind turbines, which will generate around an extra 1.75 GW. That makes a total green energy generating capacity of around 4 GW, supplying half of Belgian households with electricity. However, the wind turbines' production peaks rarely coincide with consumer demand peaks, meaning that there is an opportunity to compensate for the discontinuity between production and consumption.

If hydrogen is produced with electricity by means of electrolysis, no CO2 is released in the process. However, the hydrogen produced can only be called green if the electricity used in the process has also been generated in a green fashion. The term 'green hydrogen' is thus used when green electricity is available that converts water into hydrogen via electrolysis.

The plant will ultimately deliver a CO2 reduction of around 500k to 1m tonnes per year.

Port of Oostende is expanding its activities in the Blue Economy with this area-specific development. The planned location is in the Plassendale 1 port area. Financing intricacies will be taken care of by PMV, who see great potential for the energy source. The necessary experience package is rounded up by DEME, pioneers in developments related to offshore energy projects.

 

Photo: DEME