Dutch OEM Lagerwey has formed a partnership with research institute ECN and hydrogen supplier HYGRO to build and commission what it says is the world’s first turbine to convert wind power directly into hydrogen for use as transport fuel.

The 4.8MW wind turbine to be installed in the Wieringermeer area will be producing hydrogen for the Duwaal project, an initiative of a consortium in the North Holland region led by HYGRO that plans to implement production and distribution to at least five hydrogen fuel stations and 100 hydrogen trucks simultaneously.

The Lagerwey turbine will be converted to allow it to incorporate electrolysis technology using a method that enables many components to be omitted, making the hydrogen production cheaper, more efficient and more robust, the OEM says.

Hydrogen fuel can power electric vehicles via fuel cells, emitting mostly water and only small amounts of nitrogen oxides (if used in atmospheric air), but it requires substantial amounts of energy to be produced.

The hydrogen wind turbine is slated to be demonstrated on ECN’s wind turbine testing field at Wieringerwerf.

The Netherlands is at the forefront of power-to-gas research and initiatives, with gas supplier Gasunie recently joining the North Sea Wind Power Hub consortium, which plans to create islands in the North Sea that could bundle 100GW of offshore wind capacity and transport it to land via already existing gas pipelines.

“In the future, wind turbines will ideally be connected up to a hydrogen gas network rather than an electricity grid. Transporting hydrogen by pipeline is significantly cheaper than transporting electricity by cable,” Lagerwey claims.

Such pipelines could also serve as an inherent buffer, as a result of which significantly less harmonisation of supply and demand is required, the OEM adds.

The hydrogen to be produced at Wieringermeer will be used in so-called fuel-cell electric trucks.

“In addition to preventing CO2 emissions, this will also dispense with noise nuisance and emissions of NOX and particulate matter,” Lagerwey says.