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The Dolphyn project, led by Environmental Resources Management, will develop technology that could see energy from floating offshore wind turbines power integrated water treatment units and electrolysers for localised hydrogen production. The government awarded the project £3.1m to design a 2MW prototype system, which could lead the way to large-scale 10MW turbines.
The money was included in a £90m funding announcement today (18 February), £28m of which is for projects developing hydrogen production.
The gas is seen as a potentially crucial part of the future energy mix, and as an alternative to fossil fuels for transport, but its theoretical green credentials are often not realised thanks to production through methane steam reformation. Generating it using green energy could be revolutionary for ‘net zero’ efforts.
Other projects receiving funds include £7.48m for HyNet, which hopes to combine carbon capture and hydrogen production, and £7.5m for Gigastack, which aims to demonstrate gigawatt-scale polymer electrolyte membrane electrolysers.
The investment also includes £18.5m for switching industrial production from fossil fuels to renewables, in industries such as cement and glass production.
Nine local ‘smart energy’ projects will share £20m. In Rugeley near Stafford, a coal-fired power station will be demolished and turned into a sustainable village of 2,300 homes. Residents will use thermal storage units instead of traditional gas boilers, letting them draw, store and heat their homes with geothermal energy from local canals and disused mine shafts.
In Coleraine in County Londonderry, a micro-grid of nearly 100 homes will be established, powered entirely by local wind power. The project could lower household electricity bills by as much as 50% and boost the contribution of renewables to the local energy mix by a quarter.
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