This paper is a summary of a study that covers through-life economics for producing green hydrogen from offshore fixed wind turbines. The options compare production of hydrogen on the turbine itself (decentralised) with production on a dedicated production platform (centralised) and production from an onshore facility.

The economic analysis uses opensource hourly wind data from a windfarm development in the North Sea. The basis of calculation assumes a 1GW development using an array of 15MW turbines. The hydrogen infrastructure is sized at 80% of the turbine capacity. CAPEX, OPEX and revenue calculations are generated from data available to the partnering companies. Sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate the effect of tie-back distance (20,50,100 and 200 km).

The results of the economic analysis show that decentralised hydrogen production can be competitive against onshore production at longer offshore distances. The results of flow calculation will show typical pipeline sizes required for infield gathering and export pipeline systems. The results show that electrical system losses over longer distances and the additional costs of cables compared to pipelines have a significant influence on through life economics. The study will present the distribution of the various elements of the CAPEX and OPEX cost for each option as well as the sensitivity to hydrogen commodity price and indicate where it needs to be before these projects become viable. Furthermore, the study concludes that the centralised option is less competitive due to the additional costs of structures and foundations.

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