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July
17, 2023
By
Tina Casey
US Fiddles While Egypt Plays To Green Hydrogen Fans In
Europe
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ACWA Power is flexing its wind power muscle in Egypt, where
policy makers are eyeballing Europe's thirst for green hydrogen.
The idea of a hydrogen economy is catching on, and Europe in
particular is banking on green hydrogen to help push fossil energy out
of the picture. They are counting on Africa and the Middle East to
leverage their copious wind and solar resources on behalf of the
renewable H2 effort. If US suppliers want to tap into this market,
policymakers will have to shake a leg. The window of opportunity is
shrinking by the minute.
The State Of Offshore Wind Development In The US
One good place for the US to start revving up a green hydrogen
industry for export is the Atlantic coast, where offshore wind farms
could power electrolysis systems to push green hydrogen gas from
water.
The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University recently
took a look at offshore wind resources along the Atlantic coast and
noted that a number of states have a total of 50 gigawatts’ worth of
offshore wind farms in the planning stages. They suggested that the
CREZ (Competitive Renewable Energy Enterprise Zone) program in Texas
could serve as a model for making sure those plans get off the drawing
board, by coordinating transmission resources.
That’s a good idea, considering that Texas’s CREZ-enabled transmission
lines are credited with catapulting the Lone Star State into the #1
slot for installed wind capacity nationwide.
The Atlantic offshore wind industry sure could use some help. Despite
enjoying near-perfect conditions for offshore development, the
Atlantic coast currently hosts a grand total of just seven offshore
wind turbines in operation, combining for a deplorable total of just
42 megawatts in capacity.
The One-Two Punch Of Offshore Wind & Green Hydrogen
The Atlantic offshore wind industry could
get in gear even without a comprehensive electricity transmission
network. Green hydrogen is a transportable energy storage medium that
can be ferried to its destination by ship, rail, truck, or pipeline.
That’s in addition to its use as an electricity generator in fuel
cells or power plants.
Offshore wind planners are already beginning to pair onshore
electrolysis plants with electricity from offshore wind farms. A
movement is also afoot to co-locate electrolysis systems at wind
farms, either on their own platforms or as attachments to individual
turbines.
Here in the US, the Energy Department has staked $8 billion on
establishing regional hydrogen hubs around the US, and a powerful
group of Atlantic states appears to be among the front runners.
Offshore wind resources could play a significant role considering the
enthusiasm of state-level officials in New York and New Jersey. The
two states teamed up in 2021 to coordinate their sustainable H2
resources, and now Massachusetts and Connecticut are also on board.
Among other seaports, the Atlantic coast also has two liquified
natural gas terminals that could be of use. One is in Maryland, which
is a member of part the proposed Mid-Atlantic Regional Hydrogen Hub.
The other LNG terminal is in Georgia, and several others are
located in Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico.
T10 Gigawatts Of Wind
Power For Egypt
On a
recent visit to Germany, CleanTechnica had a chance to discuss
Europe’s green hydrogen supply chain with experts at Bosch. We’ll
cover that in more detail next week, but for now the short version is
that Europe wants green hydrogen, but it doesn’t have the bandwidth
for domestic wind or solar power to scale up its electrolysis
opportunities to a sufficient degree. So, Europe is looking to the
Middle East and Africa, where land, wind, and solar resources are
available in abundance.
If this is starting to ring a bell, that’s because it is. Schemes for
transmitting green electricity from northern Africa and the Middle
East to Europe have been simmering on the back burner for years, held
back by the lack of a transmission infrastructure. More recently, the
cost of green hydrogen has been spiraling downward. That opens up
alternative avenues for transporting renewable energy over long
distances, deploying green hydrogen as a carrier.
And, that’s where the Saudi Arabian firm ACWA Power comes in. The
company bills itself as “the first mover into green hydrogen” as well
as the “world’s largest private water desalination company.” The
desalination connection is significant because water needs to be
purified before electrolysis, potentially providing ACWA with a
technology edge on the emerging seawater-to-hydrogen industry.
On Monday, ACWA announced that it is one step closer to building a
gigantic, 10-gigawatt onshore wind farm in Egypt, with the signing of
a memorandum of understanding that allocates 3,000 acres of land for
the project in an area near the urban center of Sohag.
“We foresee that the positive contributions with financing
institutions and development partners, as well as the comparative
advantages of Egypt in terms of the availability of land, will show
that Egypt has what it takes to produce renewable energy for domestic
consumption and export,” ACWA explained in a press release.
“The wind project is expected to generate around 50 thousand gigawatt-hours
of clean energy annually, providing electricity to around 11 million
households and mitigating the impact of 25.5 million tonnes of carbon
emissions each year,” they added.
It remains to be seen how much energy from the new ACWA wind farm will
be earmarked for producing and exporting green hydrogen, but “some” is
a good guess. Last year, Reuters reported that Egypt plans to
establish itself as a renewable hydrogen hub, with export to Europe
playing a significant role.
More Green Hydrogen For
The USA
As for
the US, the Obama administration tried to organize the Atlantic coast
offshore wind industry back in 2010 to no avail, but that was before
green hydrogen emerged as a new and potentially lucrative industry.
Wind power is a particularly good match because electrolysis systems
can take advantage of the night-time hours, when wind speeds typically
pick up but demand drops.
Somewhat ironically, the Trump administration set the stage for green
hydrogen action when the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management put the finishing touches on a new, streamlined process for
approval of federal offshore lease areas. Now the system is bearing
fruit.
In the latest development, New Jersey’s proposed Ocean Wind 1 offshore
wind farm, which weighs in at 1.1 gigawatts, has been inching closer
to construction with BOEM issuing a key approval on July 5.
All is not sweetness and light, however. At least three offshore wind
opposition groups have sprouted up in New Jersey and they have been
sharpening their legal knives, so stay tuned for more on that.
Find me on Threads @tinamcasey. Also Post @tinamcasey, or @TinaMCasey
on LinkedIn and Spoutible, or @Casey on Mastadon. Also back on Twitter
(for now).
Photo: ACWA is planning a 10-gigawatt onshore wind farm in Egypt with
an eye on the green hydrogen market (photo courtesy of ACWA).
Green Play Ammonia™, Yielder® NFuel Energy.
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