Project Summary
ITEG will develop and validate an integrated tidal energy and hydrogen production solution for clean energy generation to be demonstrated in Orkney. The project addresses energy related carbon emissions in North West Europe and will tackle grid export limitations faced in remote communities.
Led by the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, the ITEG project brings together partners from across the UK, France, Belgium and the Netherlands and will adopt three low carbon technologies (tidal turbine, electrolyser and Energy Management System)
The cost of pre-commercial demonstration for ocean energy is high and investors are reluctant to invest until the technology has been proven in the sea at scale. ITEG sets out to drive down these costs through the development of an integrated hydrogen production solution.
The integrated solution combines Orbital's next generation 2 MW floating tidal energy converter, the Orbital O2 2MW, with a custom built 500kW Elogen electrolyser and an onshore energy management system (EMS) to be deployed at EMEC's hydrogen production site on the Orkney island of Eday.
The EMS will support the production of hydrogen by routing any excess energy generated by the Orbital O2 turbine on EMEC’s Fall of Warness tidal test site to be used to power an Elogen electrolyser, the first to be deployed in the UK.
Project objectives
- Develop and validate an integrated tidal energy and hydrogen production solution for clean energy generation in remote areas
- Open new market opportunities for the ocean energy sector through hydrogen production and energy storage
- Optimise the EMS and fast-track a clean energy generation, management and storage solution towards commercialisation
- Build a roadmap to support the replication of the integrated solution in other remote, grid restricted areas
The following graphic shows how the three low carbon technologies will form an integrated hydrogen production solution;