The Celtic Sea offers significant opportunities for offshore energy development because it is in a strategic area and close to major energy demand centers. The Crown Estate fully recognizes this opportunity and is currently carrying out a consultation process to identify suitable areas for offshore floating wind licenses.
Source Energie has been working to identify both medium- and long-term sites for development of floating offshore wind and now has come together with ERM Dolphyn to develop floating wind sites in the Celtic Sea that produce green hydrogen rather than electricity. Green hydrogen is an ultralow-carbon fuel and forms an essential part of a low carbon future, reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
“Source Energie is sure that green hydrogen will play a significant role in energy storage, as a fuel for future transportation needs, and as a source of hydrogen for industrial processes,” said Kevin Lynch, the CEO of Source Energie.
The first site under development is called Dylan. It has a target deployment date of 2027–28 and is approximately 60 km off the Pembrokeshire coast, west of Milford Haven. This site has been identified through a phased site selection process, which included regional resource and constraints analysis, and a high-level shipping and navigation review. Both parties agree that the location is ideal because it offers good energy-generating conditions (wind speeds greater than 10 m/s on average), strong expansion potential, and several low-impact pipeline routes to areas of existing and growing hydrogen demand.
“Areas of deep water around the UK and Ireland provide great opportunities to generate green hydrogen at scale and to deliver this carbon free fuel to areas of emerging demand, where it can be used as an alternative to fossil fuels,” said Steve Matthews, commercial director for ERM Dolphyn. “Following on from our projects in Scotland and the North Sea, Dylan is an important additional step, which will help decarbonize areas around the Celtic Sea region, including South Wales.”
ERM Dolphyn technology combines electrolysis, desalination, and hydrogen production on a floating wind platform. It has been developed by ERM with the active support from UK, Scottish, and Welsh governments. The hydrogen produced by ERM Dolphyn is green hydrogen, and it is returned via pipeline to shore, where it can be used for power generation, transport, industrial use, and heating. At the point of use, hydrogen produced from ERM Dolphyn is zero carbon.
Future expansion could provide more than 2 GW of energy, which would provide enough hydrogen to have a material effect on local and national decarbonization goals, enough to heat around 1 million homes with no carbon emissions at the point of use. The full-scale development also would bring several thousand jobs and training opportunities to the region, through assembly, construction, and operation.