One day before Hyvolution 2024, the French hydrogen producer, took stock of its, first in the world*, offshore hydrogen production pilot site. The goals have been achieved and the platform even proved an unparalleled level of performance.
Since the return to shore of its pilot hydrogen production platform, Lhyfe proceeded to analysis and the results turned out rather encouraging. The system has made it possible to manage variability of wind energy with performance levels as high as on land. The components underwent rigorous testing (platform movement management, environmental stress…). Sealhyfe weathered 5 serious storms including Ciaran, which swept the Atlantic coast in October 2023 with waves over 10 m high and winds surpassing 150 km/h. The platform remained unscathed.
Minimal maintenance and approved software
With remote piloting, it was possible to supervise the platform. The experiment has made it possible to validate the software and algorithms of green and renewable hydrogen production, as well as to reduce the number of interventions at sea. Lhyfe carried out less than ten maintenance operations in total, and the system was in service for 70% of the operating time.
Matthieu Guesné, Lhyfe CEO, affirms: “we can now draw on our experience from our onshore sites and offshore site to design our future green hydrogen production sites”. The next step is taking shape with the project HOPE off the port of Ostend (Belgium) in the North Sea. However, Lhyfe intends to go even further. The data available to the company will be used to optimise production processes and make them more reliable, as well as to test the technologies used with a view to scaling them up to sites with capacities 10 and then 100 times greater.
*The project Sealhyfe, equipped with a 1 MW electrolyser provided by Plug, was designed to showcase that offshore hydrogen production from renewable energy sources is already a reality
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Article written by Laurent Meillaud and translated by Mariem Ben Tili
