HySKUA

Quick facts:

Project: HySKUA
Duration: November 2023 – May 2024
Funder: Scottish Government (Hydrogen Innovation Scheme, part of the Emerging Energy Technologies Fund)
Partners: EMEC (lead partner), Ekium (formerly known as Sofresid Engineering)

Challenge:

Scotland’s offshore wind resources offer huge potential for green hydrogen production, but current methods face major hurdles:

• High costs and energy losses from long subsea cables
• Efficiency and scalability limits in hydrogen technology
• Deep-water engineering challenges for far-offshore sites

The HySKUA study set out to addresses these barriers by proposing a floating hydrogen production solution to enable deep-water hydrogen production, unlocking new opportunities for clean energy and export markets.

Project Overview:

The conceptual floating hydrogen hub is designed to:
• Co-locate with far-offshore wind farms
• Produce hydrogen offshore and transport it to shore via pipeline
• Avoid electrical losses associated with traditional cable-based solutions

The study also delivered a cost estimation and comparative study, comparing HySKUA to the counterfactual approach—exporting electricity via subsea cables to onshore hydrogen facilities. This traditional method suffers from transmission losses and may not be the most efficient for deep-water sites.

EMEC’s role:

As lead partner, EMEC managed the overall project and led key technical work with relevant input from Ekium.

Technical delivery:

• Lead the basis of design for the floating asset, identifying all the relevant codes and standards, design philosophies and likely key licences and consents as well as the environmental conditions where the platform would operate.
• Modelled the platform and designed the mooring system using OrcaFlex software
• Led cost estimation and comparative analysis with input from Ekium
• Developed the plan for a follow on demonstrator phase, assessing the TRL levels of each technology element to inform physical testing needs.

Outcomes:

The assumed location for the HySKUA facility within the study was identified as 200 km offshore, near the outer Targeted Oil and Gas (TOG) offshore wind developments in Scottish waters.

The feasibility study delivered:

• A basis of design for the floating assets
• Conceptual design for the floating asset and mooring system
• General arrangement and optimisation of hydrogen production, electrical, and compression modules
• Cost estimation and comparative study, comparing the HySKUA solution to a counterfactual approach—exporting electricity via subsea cables to onshore hydrogen facilities.
• A final concept report, including the design of a potential future demonstrator

Conceptual design

Platform Selection: Semi-submersible platform (~30,000 tonnes, 19 m draft)
Mooring Design: 12-line mooring system arranged in four quadrants
Topside Layout: Hydrogen production, electrical, and compression modules designed by Ekium

Engagement & Outreach
To share the HySKUA concept and findings, EMEC and Ekium with the support of Scottish Development International, organised an event at the British Embassy in Paris, bringing together 25 representatives from Scottish and French offshore wind companies to promote the study’s outcomes and explore collaboration opportunities.

Learning & impact:

The HySKUA report highlighted the following key takeaways:

• Offshore hydrogen production avoids electrical losses, which can lead to improved efficiency
• When offshore electricity costs are around £30/MWh or higher, HySKUA’s offshore hydrogen production approach is predicted to achieve a 3–4% lower Levelised Cost of Hydrogen (LCoH) compared to the traditional method of exporting electricity to shore for hydrogen production.  The cost competitiveness increases if the Hydrogen Backbone Link (a pipeline connecting Scotland to Europe) is installed in the future
• Higher learning rates expected for offshore hydrogen projects
• Export opportunities to Europe could significantly boost market potential

EMEC has developed a plan for a future demonstration with input from Ekium, which would optimise the platform design, conduct tank testing as well as physical testing of some of the cable and hydrogen production elements. A demonstrator phase would also deliver a small-scale at sea demonstration with potential to host at one of EMEC’s scale test sites.

EMEC and Ekium have signed a memorandum of understanding with the intention of seeking further funding for a demonstrator phase.

News:

May 2023: EMEC win funding to drive green hydrogen innovation