Equinor and Petrobras have joined up to explore the feasibility of seven offshore wind projects totalling 14.5GW in Brazilian waters. This tie-up expands on a partnership that the oil giants agreed in 2018.
The Danish Energy Agency has unveiled plans for three zones in its waters that could host up to 23.4GW of offshore wind capacity.They are the Nordsøen I (up to 17.4GW in the North Sea), Kattegat II (up to 2.5GW in the Kattegat Strait) and Kriegers Flak II (up to 3.5GW in the Baltic Sea) areas. Public consultation on the plans is due to take place in the first half of 2024.
Oil giant BP is reviewing its operations in onshore wind and solar as it seeks to move away from selling electricity from renewables. BP will instead look to use the power for the production of low-carbon fuels and charging electric vehicles, according to Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath, EVP of gas and low carbon energy.
Hydrogen logistics firm Universal Hydrogen said it has completed the first flight by a regional airliner powered by hydrogen fuel cell propulsion. The 15-minute flight took off and landed at Grant County International Airport in US state Washington.
Spanish oil giant Cepsa has teamed up with fertiliser firm Grupo Fertiberia to develop green hydrogen production in Huelva, Andalucia, and explore production of other green fuels. The operation is set to be powered by wind and solar farms in the region.
Green hydrogen companies Everfuel and Hy24 have created a 51:49 tie-up to invest €200m in developing green hydrogen infrastructure in the Nordics, including pipelines and electrolyser capacity.
Green hydrogen companies Everfuel and Hy24 have created a 51:49 tie-up to invest €200m in developing green hydrogen infrastructure in the Nordics, including pipelines and electrolyser capacity.
Chinese firm Sinopec Star has started building an $850m green hydrogen production plant in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, powered by electricity from 450MW of wind and 270MW of solar farms. This is Sinopec’s first green hydrogen demonstration project in Inner Mongolia.
Chinese firm Sinopec Star has started building an $850m green hydrogen production plant in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, powered by electricity from 450MW of wind and 270MW of solar farms. This is Sinopec’s first green hydrogen demonstration project in Inner Mongolia. Read more
Japan’s Nippon Steel is considering a plan to invest around $730m in building a green steel project powered by hydrogen.Takahiro Mori, EVP of global operations at Nippon Steel, said it was considering countries including Australia and Brazil for the location.
Japan’s Nippon Steel is considering a plan to invest around $730m in building a green steel project powered by hydrogen.Takahiro Mori, EVP of global operations at Nippon Steel, said it was considering countries including Australia and Brazil for the location. Read more
Hive Energy and Transitional Energy Group have formed a partnership to develop the 3GW Gente Grande green ammonia project in Tierra del Fuego, Chile. Local wind farms would power ammonia production at the development.
Hive Energy and Transitional Energy Group have formed a partnership to develop the 3GW Gente Grande green ammonia project in Tierra del Fuego, Chile. Local wind farms would power ammonia production at the development. Read more
BP has unveiled plans for a €2bn green hydrogen production facility with 2GW of electrolysis capacity at its Castellón refinery in Spain's Valencia region. The 200MW first phase of the plant is due to be operational in 2027 and is set to run on wind and solar power.
BP has unveiled plans for a €2bn green hydrogen production facility with 2GW of electrolysis capacity at its Castellón refinery in Spain's Valencia region. The 200MW first phase of the plant is due to be operational in 2027 and is set to run on wind and solar power. Read more
ACWA Power, Air Products and NEOM Company have this week reached an $8.5bn financial close for their NEOM Green Hydrogen Project in Saudi Arabia, which is set to produce 600 tonnes of green hydrogen each day. We look at why this close is significant for the nascent green hydrogen sector.
Not enough green hydrogen projects are achieving financial close.
That was the main thrust of an analysis piece we wrote in December. This makes it all the more important when major green hydrogen projects secure all the investment they need – and one such very large close happened last week.
On 1st March, ACWA Power announced that the consortium it is part of has secured the $8.5bn funding needed for the NEOM Green Hydrogen Project in Saudi Arabia.
ACWA is developing this project in a joint venture with chemicals group Air Products and Saudi Arabia’s NEOM Company, which is building a $500bn futuristic smart city powered by renewable energy in its home country. NEOM owns a 33.4% stake in the joint venture, with ACWA and Air Products each holding 33.3% stakes.
There are plenty of reasons to watch this development closely.
First, it is set to be the world’s largest utility-scale commercial green hydrogen plant powered entirely by renewables when it is commissioned, which is due in 2026.
The hydrogen production is to be paired with 4GW of wind, solar and battery storage. This will power production of 600 tonnes of clean hydrogen each day that will be converted into up to 1.2million tonnes of green ammonia annually; and the production of nitrogen too.
Second, the industry is looking closely at green fuel off-take structures, as we discussed in the second meeting of our members-only Leadership Council for power-to-X last month. You can click here for a rundown of what we discussed at that meeting.
NEOM is an example of developers pursuing the strategy of becoming their own off-taker: Air Products has agreed a 30-year off-take contract for the green ammonia produced, and is then planning to sell it for use in the green transport sector globally. This is a sensible strategy as it is far easier to ship green ammonia globally than to transport pure green hydrogen. NEOM could be important in establishing the green ammonia market.
And third, this $8.5bn financial close shows that there is major interest from the global investment community in green hydrogen projects, especially for developments that are underpinned by state funding. No doubt the presence of the Saudi Arabian government as a major investor for this project will have given confidence to others.
NEOM Green Hydrogen Company secured a Saudi operating licence for its hydrogen production operations last month. This is seen as an important project to help the Saudi Arabian government achieve Vision 2030, which is the oil-rich Middle Eastern country’s strategic plan to reduce its oil dependence and diversify its economy.
But the government’s backing goes beyond that, as this close includes major tranches of investment from Saudi sovereign wealth. The financing is made up of:
The immediate financial benefits of this deal will go beyond its developers too. The close will be a boost for contractors and suppliers at the project, which include the electrolyser manufacturer Thyssenkrupp Nucera; green ammonia producer Haldor Topsoe; and hydrogen compression technology provider Baker Hughes.
Air Products is also set to deploy its own air separation technology for nitrogen production at the project, which makes it a ‘triple threat’ of developer, manufacturer and off-taker. Yes, we know ‘triple threat’ is a term more often used for performers like Hugh Jackman – they sing, dance and act – but it is appropriate here: the nascent green hydrogen sector needs these multi-faceted companies if it is going to accelerate towards commercial maturity.
There is actually a fourth good reason to watch this development as well.
Andrew Lovato, global head of hydrogen at ACWA Power, said the firm wants to replicate the model in other countries. If NEOM is successful in Saudi Arabia then this will surely accelerate the rollout of similar projects and help the sector to commercial maturity.
NEOM Green Hydrogen Project may only be one development, but it is a significant one. Financial closes of $8.5bn do not come along every day in this sector, though large closes will become more frequent. Indeed, they will have to if the sector is going to thrive.
Vattenfall is consulting on plans to develop the 2.6GW 373-turbine Storlandet onshore wind farm in Sweden's Norrbotten County. This is nearly five times larger than the 550MW originally planned. The project could be commissioned by 2030.
Italian oil giant Eni has signed a memorandum of understanding with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company to partner on renewable energy and low-carbon hydrogen projects.
Ørsted has secured a key environmental permit in Sweden's Skåne municipality to build the 1.5GW Skåne offshore wind project, which could be commissioned in 2029.
German utility Enercity is set to invest €340m developing a 43-turbine wind farm in the Wedemark municipality of northern Hanover, Germany. The project is due to be commissioned in 2026.
ACWA Power has signed a deal with the Kazakhstan energy ministry to develop a 1GW wind-and-battery project in the country. The project is due to complete in 2027.
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners is teaming up with Indian developer to develop over 1.8GW of greenfield renewables projects in India, including two initial wind projects totalling 500MW. CIP is investing via its Copenhagen Infrastructure New Markets Fund 1.
EDP Renewables is looking to raise €1bn to support its growth through a share issue with Lisson Grove Investment, an affiliate of Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC. The company made the announcement as it launched its strategic plan through to 2026.
Japan's INPEX Corporation has bought a 16.7% stake in the 950MW Moray East offshore wind farm in UK waters from Mitsubishi Corporation subsidiary Diamond Generating Europe. Moray East was commissioned in April 2022.
RWE has set up RWE Clean Energy in the US after combining its RWE Renewables Americas arm with the clean energy businesses of Con Edison, which it has just acquired. This grows RWE's operational portfolio in the US to 8GW, backed by a development pipeline of 27.9GW.
Korea South-East Power Company has picked Vestas to supply turbines for the 600MW Wando Geumil offshore wind project in Wando-Gun in South Korea's Jeolla Province. The project is set to be made up of 40 15MW turbines. Commissioning is due in the third quarter of 2026.
Wpd has picked Nordex to supply turbines for two wind projects totalling 109.3MW in Sweden and Finland. The developments are the 68MW Tomasliden in Sweden and the 41.3MW Oulainen in Finland. Construction on both is due to begin in spring 2024.
Flotation Energy and Vårgrønn have unveiled plans for the 1.4GW Cenos floating wind farm off the coast of Scotland. The partners have submitted a scoping report for the North Sea project, which is under consideration in the Crown Estate Scotland's Innovation & Targeted Oil & Gas leasing round.
Cryostone, RCAM Technologies and Gravity Power LLC have been confirmed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Office of Electricity (OE) as being among the ten winners of the inaugural American-Made Energy Storage Innovations Prize, which calls for solutions to grid-scale energy storage.
The prize is $300,000.
The Energy Storage Innovations Prize focuses on nascent and emerging technologies that “disrupt or advance current state-of-the-art energy storage research areas”.
Of the ten winning teams, OE announced five ‘Storage Innovations Champions’ to receive $50,000 each and five ‘Storage Innovations Finalists’ to receive $10,000 each.
The Storage Innovations Champions are:
The Storage Innovations Finalists are: