Lhyfe’s offshore hydrogen production platform, Sealhyfe, achieved a significant milestone by producing its first kilograms of offshore hydrogen. The platform was recently towed to the SEM-REV offshore test site in France. It is connected to BW Ideol’s floating wind turbine Floatgen. Sealhyfe can produce up to 400 kilograms of hydrogen per day.
Lhyfe’s offshore hydrogen production platform has reached the start-of-production milestone. Thus, it has entered the second testing phase, focusing on producing hydrogen in offshore conditions. Before its deployment at the SEM-REV test site, Sealhyfe underwent eight months of testing at the Port of Saint-Nazaire, beginning in September 2022.
Sealhyfe consists of a 1 MW electrolyser supplied by Plug, mounted on GEPS Techno’s WAVEGEM floating platform, adapted to stabilise the production unit at sea. During the initial testing phase at the port, the platform underwent benchmarking tests, technology optimisation, and system optimisation. Lhyfe also developed software and algorithms necessary for remote management and the fully autonomous operation of Sealhyfe.
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Lhyfe’s offshore hydrogen production platform location
Operating at Centrale Nantes’s SEM-REV offshore testing site, located 20 kilometres off the French coast in the Atlantic Ocean, Sealhyfe is connected to the site’s subsea hub through a specially designed umbilical cable for hydrogen applications. Following its connection to the hub, the system was restarted and operational within 48 hours.
To compare the results, Lhyfe plans to reproduce all the tests conducted during the quay testing phase. The company will also perform additional offshore-specific tests to achieve reliable hydrogen production in the offshore environment. This includes managing the platform’s movement and environmental stresses and validating green and renewable hydrogen production software and algorithms.
