World’s first offshore hydrogen plant soon powered by Floatgen

BW Ideol and Centrale Nantes welcome the launch of the world’s first offshore hydrogen production unit which will be powered by BW Ideol’s landmark floating offshore wind turbine operating successfully off France’s west coast since 2018. This pioneering clean hydrogen project is led by Lhyfe, a leading producer and supplier of green hydrogen for mobility and industry.

The « Sealhyfe » hydrogen production facility will be, after a phase of dockside tests, connected to BW Ideol’s floating wind unit anchored and operating at the Ecole Centrale de Nantes’ SEM-REV site for the last 4 years. This offshore pilot site meets all the necessary conditions to validate the offshore hydrogen production technology before large-scale industrial deployment, aiming first and foremost at demonstrating the reliability of an electrolyser at sea.

“Lhyfe’s project is an important and much needed step towards the development of integrated and autonomous renewable power production systems, using floating wind and green hydrogen in this specific instance. Developing such solutions is essential to accelerate the energy transition,” said Paul de la Guérivière, the CEO of BW Ideol. “Being the floating wind asset owner and being responsible for the day-to-day operations and maintenance of the asset, we look forward to studying all aspects of the interaction between the wind turbine and the hydrogen production system. This added return on experience will further contribute to BW Ideol’s unique preparedness for the development and execution of future commercial-scale deployments.” 

“This exceptional demonstrator, tested on the SEM-REV offshore test site, associates Centrale Nantes with a strong ambition: to make offshore renewable hydrogen a reality. This world premiere is a source of great pride for the school” announces Jean-Baptiste Avrillier, director of Centrale Nantes. “This ambitious project confirms the role of our SEM-REV site in accelerating the development of renewable marine energies and the active contribution of the school to meet the challenges of energy transition”

About BW Ideol:
BW Ideol is a leading fully integrated platform in floating offshore wind with more than 10 years of experience from design, execution and development of floating wind projects based on Ideol S.A.’s patented floating offshore wind technology and engineering capabilities. The company has a dual-leg growth strategy as a floater EPCI and maintenance services provider and as a wind-farm project developer and co-owner. BW Ideol has two full-scale offshore floating wind turbines in operation in France and Japan, a significant project pipeline, and is supported by BW Offshore’s extensive experience from developing and operating offshore energy production systems.
Contact : Nicolas de Kerangal, Chief Financial & Partnerships Officer at BW Ideol – ir@bw-ideol.com

About Centrale Nantes :
Founded in 1919, Centrale Nantes is a French engineering school and member of the Ecoles Centrale Group. The school boasts excellent rankings: top ten engineering school in France (L’Etudiant 2022), top 250 worldwide for engineering (Times Higher Education 2022) and no.1 in the first ever ranking of engineering schools to change the world, compiled by Les Echos START and ChangeNOW. Its undergraduate, Master and PhD programmes are based on the latest scientific and technological developments and the best management practices. With strong international outreach, 43% of its student body are international students, representing more than 87 nationalities. Partnership agreements are in place with 178 universities in 48 countries and two-thirds of students follow a double degree programme abroad. At Centrale Nantes, research and training are organised into three key areas for growth and innovation: manufacturing, energy transition and healthcare. With research platforms ranging from digital simulation to prototyping with full‑scale models, and a joint incubator – with Audencia and ensa Nantes – which has 20 years of experience in supporting start-up projects, the school has two major tools for innovation and creation, working hand-in-hand with industry. Through a proactive approach of collaborative research between laboratories and industry, Centrale Nantes is developing initiatives for the creation of international chairs, of which there are 15 to date.
Learn more: www.ec-nantes.fr. Media Library: https://phototheque.ec-nantes.fr/ /  @CentraleNantes

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act