AWS Truepower, a provider of renewable energy consulting and information services, has announced the official start of the H2OCEAN project at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB). The project, which is funded by the European Commission 7th Framework Programme, aims to develop an innovative design for an economically and environmentally sustainable multi-use open-sea platform to harvest offshore renewable energy.
The H2OCEAN platform will harvest wind and wave power, using part of the energy on-site for multiple applications – including a multi-trophic aquaculture farm – and convert the excess energy into hydrogen.
A unique feature of the H2OCEAN concept, AWS Truepower says, is the approach to transporting excess renewable energy generated offshore through hydrogen. This conceptual model avoids the grid-imbalance problem inherent to current offshore renewable energy systems and eliminates the need for cost-prohibitive cable transmission systems, the company explains.
According to AWS Truepower, H2OCEAN's design plan will take advantage of the synergies among various activities carried out within the platform, minimize environmental impacts, and increase the social and economic potential of new maritime activities.
The consortium includes 17 companies and public institutions from five European countries from sectors including renewable energy, aquaculture, hydrogen generation and shipping.
