Plug Power Inc. (Latham, N.Y.) is part of a consortium of companies that received a $21.8-million grant from the European Commission to build an offshore hydrogen production plant. As a member of the nine-company consortium HOPE (Hydrogen Offshore Production Europe), Plug will design and deliver a 10-megawatt (MW) proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer system to the site in the North Sea, off the port of Ostend, Belgium.
The HOPE project will produce up to four tons a day of green hydrogen at sea, which will be transported to shore by pipeline, compressed and delivered to customers for mobility needs and small industries in Belgium, northern France, and southern Netherlands, within less than a 200-mile radius. HOPE is the first offshore project of this size in the world to begin actual implementation, with the production unit and export and distribution infrastructure due to come online in mid-2026.
The HOPE project is being coordinated by Lhyfe (France) and implemented by eight European partners: Alfa Laval (Denmark), Plug (the Netherlands), Strohm (the Netherlands), EDP NEW (Portugal), ERM (France), CEA (France), POM-West-Vlaanderen (Belgium) and DWR eco (German
“We are grateful for the European Commission’s support to demonstrate the viability of offshore green hydrogen production at scale,” said Andy Marsh, Plug’s CEO. “Once successfully demonstrated, we anticipate private sector investments in offshore hydrogen production will accelerate.”
The HOPE project will benefit from an ideal location, less than a mile from the coast, in the offshore testing area near the port of Ostend, Belgium, which aims to be a key link in the hydrogen supply chain in Belgium. The production site will be powered by electricity supplied under PPA (power purchase agreement) contracts that guarantee its renewable origin. The water used for electrolysis will be pumped from the North Sea, desalinated, and purified.
The consortium aims to pave the way for the deployment of large-scale offshore production of renewable hydrogen. The HOPE project will develop, build, and operate this production unit to demonstrate the technical and financial viability of a large-scale offshore hydrogen project with pipeline transport for supplying onshore customers.
The grant, covering a period of five years, will be used to finance the design phases, the supply of equipment and the construction work, as well as research, development and innovation work focusing on optimizing technological solutions and the operation of this type of infrastructure. The techno-economic analysis of large-scale offshore renewable hydrogen production solutions will be part of the grant.
In 2022, Plug and Lhyfe pioneered the proof-of-concept for the world’s first floating offshore hydrogen production plant, Sealhyfe.