ABERDEEN has been chosen as the home for the “world’s first” offshore floating facility to produce green hydrogen.
The “pioneering” Dolphyn project will sit 15km off the coast, allowing the UK to harness the power of the superfuel using floating wind turbines.
Developer Environmental Resources Management (ERM) described it as the “start of the process” which will see a predicted wave of thousands of green energy jobs supported by the hydrogen economy.
ERM, a London-headquartered multinational consultancy, who earlier this year was awarded £3 million in UK government funding for Dolphyn, said Aberdeen beat both Orkney and Cornwall for the development.
The company said the decision was due to a number of factors, including the city’s ongoing hydrogen efforts, the new South Harbour expansion, and even some persuading by Sir Ian Wood and Opportunity North East (ONE).
Sir Ian, who chairs ONE, said the move is “very positive” for the region, which is “uniquely positioned to lead the drive towards creating a hydrogen economy”, thanks to its natural resources and oil and gas legacy.
Dolphyn will start with a 2MW prototype in 2024, followed by a 10MW unit in 2027, both of which will lie in the Kincardine Offshore Windfarm.
ERM wants the first commercial 10-turbine (100MW) hydrogen-producing windfarm online by 2030. From then on they’re aiming even bigger – at a massive 4GW wind farm by 2034, enough to power 1.5million homes.
Ultimately, ERM wants to deploy this technology at a large enough scale to replace natural gas needs in the UK and further afield – the firm has projections of creating a network of hydrogen wind farms that could replace 50% of UK gas demand by 2065.
Kevin Kinsella, Dolphyn project director based in Manchester, said: “Obviously that’s not going to happen overnight and it’s going to take decades for that transition to happen, but we see Dolphyn as the start of that process.
“Basically the number of jobs would be sufficient to totally replace all of the oil and gas jobs in Aberdeen and surroundings as they are at present.
“So there is the potential to completely transition the oil and gas industry to the hydrogen industry without losing any jobs and, probably, creating a lot more.”
Dolphyn is due to reach a final investment decision (FID) next year and is currently seeking partners to invest in the “whole Dolphyn commercialisation”.
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Mr Kinsella said the company is in discussions with a number of energy firms, including three oil and gas companies, so “in terms of getting the investment, I don’t think there’s going to be a problem with that”.
ERM, which is backed by private equity and last year posted revenues of $983m (£772m), said the green hydrogen project will “be great for Aberdeen” and is something they want to promote at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow next year as a “UK achievement”.
