Tech Talk: Designing the Danish energy islands #5: Combined transmission of electricity and hydrogen

Within the next decade, energy islands and energy hubs are planned to be built in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. These energy hubs are key to Denmarks ambition of reaching the national energy and climate targets. Furthermore, such infrastructure projects will bring Denmark to the center-stage of energy supply to the rest of Europe by contributing renewable energy to the region.

From a pure financial viewpoint, such huge infrastructure projects are the largest in Danish history with budget of over DKK 210 billion.

In order to get there, new solutions and strategies to ensure stable and cost-effective operations of the energy islands are needed. This is what the innovation project Offshore Energy Hubs focuses on. In this project, partners are striving to develop technical solutions addressing several aspects of the energy hubs, which will be conveyed via a series of webinars:

Previous editions:

1. Solutions enhancing operational stability and thereby security of the energy supply
   (Watch/re-watch the webinar HERE)
2. Stable and resilient hub design
   (Watch/re-watch the webinar HERE)
3. Impact of temporary MMC blocking functionality on DC grid protection design
   (Watch/re-watch the webinar HERE)
4. Grid Code Requirements
   (Watch/re-watch the webinar HERE)
   

This 5th Tech Talk investigates the feasibility to develop an umbilical 3-phase submarine power cable (66kV) with integrated H2 gas transmission elements, which improves the flexibility and business case for at-turbine or at-hub hydrogen production. The development of combined transmission of electricity and hydrogen gas aims to remove cost barriers for at-turbine electrolysis, as a cost-competitive alternative to the large-scale electrolysis solutions.

Presenters:

Introduction to umbilical power cable concept for combined transmission of electricity and hydrogen gas
by George Georgallis, R&D – Engineering Director, Hellenic Cables

Mechanical design of umbilical
by Stelios Koumlis, Hellenic Cables

Electrical and thermal design of umbilical
by Dimitris Chatzipetros, Numerical Analysis Group Manager, Hellenic Cables

Full scale 66kV umbilical cable sample production and testing to date / risk analysis — remaining work
by Elena Kyriakopoulou, Hellenic Cables

Q&A
w/ Presenters