German energy giant RWE and Norwegian counterpart Equinor have agreed to collaborate on green hydrogen projects including a cross-border pipeline with offshore wind set to play a key role.
They are developing a 300MW North Sea offshore wind farm that would be connected to offshore electrolysers to produce green hydrogen as part of their plans, and intend to explore the possibility for further offshore wind investments in Germany and Norway.
The partners also intend to build a hydrogen pipeline between Norway and Germany, and downstream hydrogen infrastructure in Germany by 2030.
This would deliver blue hydrogen molecules created by 2GW of electrolysis capacity in Norway from 2030, and eventually 10GW by 2038. The blue hydrogen is set to be produced by splitting natural gas into hydrogen and carbon dioxide, with the CO2 stored using carbon capture and storage technology, with the carbon stored underground offshore in Norway. The partners eventually plan to use it for green hydrogen too.
RWE and Equinor also plan to jointly explore the potential for offshore production of green hydrogen in Norway, Germany and countries neighbouring their green hydrogen pipeline. The companies added that they see offshore wind as “by far the most effective form of renewable power generation” and playing an “important role in the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy”.
The plans are part of a newly formed strategic energy partnership between RWE and Equinor for large-scale energy projects to boost European energy security and the hydrogen economy.
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