Design considerations and preliminary hydrodynamic analysis of an offshore decentralised floating wind-hydrogen system
Claudio A. Rodríguez, Maurizio Collu, Feargal Brennan
Abstract
Despite the number of works on the techno-economics of offshore green hydrogen production, there is a lack of research on the design of floating platforms to concomitantly support hydrogen production facilities and wind power generation equipment. Indeed, previous studies on offshore decentralised configuration for hydrogen production, implicitly assume that a floating platform designed for wind power generation (FOWT) can be also suitable as a floating wind hydrogen system (FWHS). This work proposes a novel design for an offshore decentralised FWHS, and analyses the effects of the integration of the hydrogen facilities on the platform's dynamics and how this in turn affects the performances of the wind turbine and the hydrogen equipment. Our findings indicate that despite the reduction in platform's stability, the performance of the wind turbine is barely affected. Regarding the hydrogen system, our results aim at contributing to further assessment and design of this equipment for offshore conditions. • Proposes a conceptual design of a decentralised floating wind-hydrogen system (FWHS). • Addresses key design differences with dedicated floating wind turbines. • Hydrodynamic aspects of FWHS assessed with state-of-the-art numerical tools. • Provides key performance indicators for offshore hydrogen production equipment.