Ørsted eyes large-scale wind-powered green hydrogen in Denmark

The partners have signed a letter of intent to build the facility across several phases in Idomlund. The first phase of the project has an expected electrolysis capacity of 150MW, to be powered by undisclosed capacities of onshore wind and solar PV.

Hydrogen is the sole product planned from the facility “for now”, said an Ørsted spokesperson.

Ørsted and Skovgaard Energy hope that the site’s close proximity to the North Sea – where large-scale offshore wind is currently being developed – will enable the facility’s electrolysis capacity to be scaled up to more than 3GW.  This will contribute “significantly” to Denmark’s goal of having 4-6GW of electrolysis capacity by 2030, the partners added.

If the necessary offshore wind capacity and hydrogen infrastructure are established, then Ørsted generally expects to export the hydrogen produced by the facility south to Germany and then potentially to other European countries. 

“Few countries have as strong a potential to become a green energy exporter as Denmark due to its abundant and low-cost offshore wind resources,” said Anders Nordstrøm, chief operating officer of Ørsted’s power-to-x division.

Skovgaard Energy has already started the development of both the power-to-X project and the associated onshore wind and solar PV, however the scheduled online date is currently unclear.