Project “H2 Mare”
Premiere in the sea: platform should create fuels
The connection of wind turbines on the high seas is expensive and harms the environment. A research team now wants to test an alternative – and in the middle of the sea.
A research team tests a floating platform to create sustainable fuels from wind energy in the middle of the sea. “This is first demonstrated and tried and tested worldwide on a floating platform in this form,” said Matthias Metten from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) when presenting the project in Bremerhaven.
For the first time, hydrogen worldwide directly on the high seas
Wind wheels on the sea provide more and even electricity than on land. While facilities create about 3.5 megawatts on land, offshore wind turbines come to around 5 megawatts. But so far, sea cables have to be laid for the wind power – this is complex, expensive and harms the environment.
The scientists want to use the stream of wind turbines at sea more efficiently in the future. Hydrogen is to be made directly on the floating platform in the middle of the sea. In further steps, the hydrogen can then be processed into other substances such as ammonia, e-fuel, LNG (methane) or methanol.
Test in Bremerhaven and before Helgoland
The scientists test the platform in the port of Bremerhaven and from August in a wind farm in front of Helgoland. There they want to observe the effects of wind and waves. The floating platform is part of the “H2 Mare” project and is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research with more than 37 million euros.
dpa
Source: Stern
