Denmark bets on green hydrogen

• The Danish government has agreed to provide $19 million in funds for two large-scale hydrogen projects under development on the Jutland peninsula. The two projects will produce green hydrogen for the transport sector from renewables sources. Denmark’s largest energy company, Ørsted, has also announced plans for an ambitious 2 MW electrolysis plant with appurtenant hydrogen storage.

The Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities has revealed that it will provide DKK 128 million ($19 million) to build two large-scale, renewables-powered energy storage projects.

The stored power will be used as a fuel for transport – particularly buses, aircrafts and ships, the Danish government said. The two projects, which will convert renewable electricity into hydrogen, will be financially supported by two separate investments of DKK 80 million and DKK 48 million.

“They both have strong players behind and are part of industrial symbiosis with a great connection to the current industry,” said Dan Jørgensen, minister of climate, energy and utilities.

Hydrogen for Jutland

One of the two projects, GreenLab Slice PtX, will likely be developed in Skrive, on the Jutland peninsula in northwestern Denmark. The second project, dubbed HySynergy, will be built in Fredericia, in the southeastern part of Jutland. The two projects will be implemented between 2020 and 2025.

The minister said that the next big step in the green transition will be to develop technologies that can convert green power into fuels for transport. He also noted – as he did earlier this month, when the results of Denmark’s latest renewable energy auction were announced – that well-established renewable energy technologies no longer need public support.

Public support for solar and wind dropped to such a low level in the country’s last procurement exercise that subsidies will no longer be needed for the two technologies, the government said, which means that it will not hold any additional auctions in the future. The authorities also said that the budget for renewables auctions will be allocated to other initiatives related to the energy transition, such as backing the use of clean fuel in planes and ships.

Electrolysis plant

In a separate development, Danish power supplier Ørsted said this week that it has received DKK 34.6 million in funds from the Danish Energy Agency to build a 2 MW electrolysis plant with appurtenant hydrogen storage. It is now developing the project in partnership with Everfuel Europe A/S, NEL Hydrogen A/S, GreenHydrogen A/S, DSV Panalpina A/S, Hydrogen Denmark and Energinet Elsystemansvar A/S. The site will produce green hydrogen for buses, trucks and potentially taxis, using electricity from Ørsted’s two Siemens Gamesa 3.6 MW offshore wind turbines in Avedøre, south of Copenhagen.

“The daily hydrogen production is expected to total around 600 kg, enough to power 20-30 buses, while also making testing its use in [trucks] and taxis possible,” Ørsted said.

The company set up a new solar energy and storage division in February 2018. Its wind power unit, meanwhile, aims to reach 7.45 GW of cumulative offshore wind installations by 2020. Its wind division is active in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.