Engineering solution provider KBR has been contracted for the design of the baseload power hub for the Hollandse Kust Noord wind farm off the coast of the Netherlands.
The Hollandse Kust Noord wind farm, which is currently in the early stage of construction for the CrossWind joint venture between Shell and the Dutch utility company Eneco, is planned to power the production of hydrogen for use at the oil company’s energy and chemicals plant near Rotterdam.
KBR will perform a front-end engineering design of the baseload power hub, working with Shell on the design and development of facilities that integrate lithium-ion battery storage and green hydrogen electrolysis production at megawatt scale.
The design should enable hydrogen production and electricity storage in periods of high power production and will convert hydrogen to electricity, via a fuel cell, during periods of lower power production.
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“KBR is extremely pleased to be involved in this sustainable energy project,” said Jay Ibrahim, president of KBR Sustainable Technology Solutions.
“To solve the current global ‘energy trilemma,’ the world needs an energy mix that relies more on wind, solar and nuclear power.”
The Hollandse Kust Noord wind farm, to be located approximately 18.5km distant from the north Holland coast, will have a capacity of 759MW generating at least 3.3TWh per year and is expected to start becoming operational in 2023.
Other innovations include floating solar panels to supplement the output during windless conditions and the production of hydrogen both offshore and onshore at Shell’s Holland Hydrogen 1 – Europe’s largest green hydrogen plant so far – which is being developed at Maasvlakte 2 within the Port of Rotterdam.
The hydrogen will then be transported to the Pernis refinery as a replacement for grey hydrogen and thereby decarbonising, partially at least, the production of the fuels and chemicals.
The hydrogen also is expected to be directed for commercial road transport use.
