(Eemshaven / Netherlands) – RWE Generation SE has received the building and environmental permit for an electrolyzer near its "Magnum" power plant in Eemshaven, the Netherlands. The aim is to develop a hydrogen project with a capacity of 100 megawatts. The company is also working on the implementation of a 50-megawatt electrolyzer in the nearby Eems power plant; the Dutch government already granted funding of 125 million euros in April.
However, both investment decisions are still pending. An important prerequisite for construction is the timely availability of the necessary infrastructure, such as the national hydrogen backbone, "to transport the green hydrogen to customers."
Construction of the “Oranje Wind” wind farm is scheduled to begin in 2026, with full commissioning expected in early 2028. © RWE
The project is intended to help integrate the "Oranje Wind" wind farm planned in the North Sea with 795 megawatts of installed capacity into the Dutch energy system. RWE is developing the wind farm together with the French energy group Total Energies SE. The investment decision was made in July, as reported. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2026, with full commissioning expected in early 2028. The annual yield is forecast at three terawatt hours.
For the offshore wind farm "Oranje Wind", a contract was signed with Vestas for the delivery of 53 wind turbines of the 15-megawatt class (V236) and a contract was signed with SiF for the delivery of 53 monopile foundations. The cables for the farm will be supplied by TKF. The transport and installation of the foundations and wind turbines will be carried out by the company Jan de Nul with its special ship "Les Alizés" and the jack-up vessel "Voltaire". The grid connection will be carried out by the grid operator TenneT. At sea, the wind farm will be connected to TenneT's own offshore substation. From there, the electricity will be transported via export cables to the high-voltage substation on land in Wijk aan Zee.
integration into the energy system
In order to optimally coordinate fluctuating electricity generation from renewable energies and flexible electricity demand, integration into the Dutch energy system is an important part of the "Oranje Wind" project. RWE and Total Energies want to provide solutions for system integration, including electrolyzers, intelligent charging solutions for electric vehicles, e-boilers for heating and battery storage.
Total Energies plans to use its share of the electricity generated from this project to build 350-megawatt electrolyzers, which will produce around 40.000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year for the decarbonisation of the group's refineries in Northern Europe.
RWE is building an ultra-fast battery storage facility in Moerdijk for instantaneous reserves from renewable energies, among other things to supply electrolyzers. © RWE
As part of the system integration of "Oranje Wind", RWE wants to build an ultra-fast battery storage system (BESS) on the site of its Dutch power plant in Moerdijk, the construction of which began a few weeks ago. The storage system, with an installed capacity of 7,5 megawatts and a storage capacity of eleven megawatt hours, can provide or absorb electricity within milliseconds using highly reactive control technology and inverters with a grid-forming function in order to stabilize the power grid (instantaneous reserve).
In Moerdijk, RWE is installing lithium iron phosphate batteries (LFP) in three shipping containers. The storage system will be connected to the high-voltage grid. After commissioning at the end of 2024, the plant will go through a two-year pilot phase.
Photos
RWE took over the "Magnum" gas-fired power plant (1,4 GW) in Eemshaven, the Netherlands, from Vattenfall in 2022. The plant can be operated with up to 30 percent hydrogen. There is also the option of converting the gas-fired power plant entirely to hydrogen as the sole fuel. It is located in the immediate vicinity of the RWE power plant in Eemshaven (1,56 GW), which is operated with hard coal and biomass. © Vattenfall
