German North Sea outpost Heligoland hopes for green hydrogen boom

Germany's remote North Sea island Heligoland is hoping for a rapid increase in green hydrogen production with offshore wind power, news agency dpa reports in an article carried by RTL Online. The small island located about 60 kilometres off the German coast has already benefitted from the boom in offshore wind power production in recent years and now sees an even bigger opportunity with the production of the climate-neutral synthetic gas. "In ten years, green hydrogen from the North Sea will be a normality and a pillar of the national hydrogen strategy," said Heligoland's mayor, Jörg Singer, following a meeting with government representatives. Several companies bundled in the Aquaventus initiative plan to build H2 electrolysis installations with a capacity of up to 10 gigawatts in the North Sea in the future, which would then be distributed by a new grid network that also includes artificial hub islands, in which Heligoland also plays a key role. In a first step, the island could install capacity to produce up to 2,500 tonnes of hydrogen per year by 2025, the article says.

Wind power has been an important driver of economic activity for Germany's coastal regions and state governments see the looming expansion of hydrogen production outlined in Germany's national strategy as a major opportunity to become key locations for the country's future economy. The European Commission's own hydrogen strategy aims to create a multi-billion euro market by 2050 that will support up to 1 million jobs and will help to reach greenhouse gas reduction targets in sectors that are otherwise hard to decarbonise.