The project, located off the coast of the Netherlands, will have a capacity of 759MW and generate at least 3.3TWh per year, enough renewable power to supply the equivalent of more than 1m Dutch households with green electricity.
CrossWind, targeting launch at the end of this year, intends to use various new technologies to manage the intermittent wind power generation, including the use of water electrolysis to convert wind power into green hydrogen for energy storage. Ballard’s hydrogen fuel cells will use the green hydrogen as fuel to regenerate stable and dispatchable power.
Ballard will supply a containerised fuel cell power solution with a peak power capacity of 1MW, with delivery expected in 2024. This is Ballard’s second stationary power project deployed in Europe for peak shaving power generation applications.
Søren Østergaard Hansen, General Manager, Marine and Stationary, Ballard Power Systems Europe, said hydrogen plays a critical role to support the energy transition.
“This project is an exciting proof point on how hydrogen and PEM fuel cells can provide an effective storage, load-following and firming solution for intermittent renewables,” he said.
Maria Kalogera, Crosswind’s Innovation Manager, said it is committed to demonstrating baseload power on a megawatt scale for a single full-scale wind turbine generator. “We will introduce, for the first time, an offshore combination of battery storage and round-trip hydrogen integrated in an offshore wind farm,” she said.
Last week Ballard signed an agreement to launch a pilot project to develop a hydrogen fuel cell electric truck (FCET) for mining logistics and transportation with Adani Enterprises, part of the diversified Adani portfolio of companies, and Ashok Leyland.
The collaboration marks Asia’s first planned hydrogen powered mining truck. The demonstration project will be led by AEL, a company focused on both mining operations and developing green hydrogen projects for sourcing, transporting, and building out hydrogen refuelling infrastructure.