TotalEnergies has signed agreements with RWE to acquire a 50% stake in the 795-MW OranjeWind project in the Dutch North Sea.
The company plans to allocate its share of the electricity generated to power 350-MW electrolyzer projects. These will produce about 40,000 t/year of green (lower-carbon) hydrogen to replace the hydrogen currently used at its refineries in northern Europe, cutting CO2 emissions by an estaimted 400,000 t/year.
OranjeWind is 53 km from the Dutch coast. RWE won the development rights in 2022 under the Dutch Hollandse Kust West VII tender, then committed to adding electrolyzers for green hydrogen production from the project.
Construction of the wind farm is due to start in 2026 and should be fully commissioned by early 2028.
This will be TotalEnergies’ first offshore wind project in the Netherlands. RWE Offshore Wind CEO Sven Utermöhlen said, “Together, we will provide a blueprint for the Dutch energy system of the future, designed to tackle the challenges of intermittent wind generation and flexible energy demand.”
Ocean Grazer’s Ocean Battery modular energy storage solution will also feature in the development. This stores energy produced from wind turbines by pumping water from low-pressure rigid reservoirs into flexible bladders on the seabed.
When there is demand for power, water flows back from the flexible bladders to the rigid reservoirs, driving multiple hydro turbines to generate electricity. Ocean Grazer will undergo further development for OranjeWind at an inland underwater testing location.
Other planned innovations include offshore floating solar power, a subsea lithium-ion battery and a LiDAR power forecasting system.
