TotalEnergies and Air Liquide tap offshore wind power in green hydrogen pact
Partners will use electrons from Oranjewind offshore wind farm to produce 45,000 tonnes per year of renewable H2 across two projects
An unspecified “agreement” signed between the two French companies sets up a 50-50 joint venture to build and operate the 250MW electrolyser in the Zeeland region in the south of the Netherlands.
The €600m ($628m) plant, for which the pair are hoping to secure both EU and national subsidies as well as project finance, would produce around 30,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year, “mainly” for Total’s nearby Zeeland refinery.
The project is scheduled for commissioning in 2029.
In addition, the duo agreed that green hydrogen production from 130MW of Air Liquide’s proposed 200MW ELYgator project in Maasvlakte near Rotterdam — around 15,000 tonnes per year — would be earmarked solely for Total’s refining and petrochemicals complex in Antwerp, Belgium.
The ELYgator project, which Air Liquide hopes to commission in 2027, would be connected to the French company’s existing cross-border hydrogen pipeline network, allowing delivery of the hydrogen from the Netherlands to Antwerp.
Power for all 380MW of the Total-dedicated electrolyser capacity would be “mainly” supplied from the 795MW Oranjewind offshore wind array 53km off the Dutch coast, Total said, without revealing where the remainder of the electrons would be sourced from.
Construction on the wind farm is planned for 2026 and commissioning for 2028.
Total took a 50% stake in Oranjewind (the other 50% is held by the wind farm’s German lead developer RWE) in 2024, with the express purpose of using its share of electrons from the project to power 350MW of electrolyser projects.
- This article was published first by Hydrogen Insight