The Danish energy company has begun construction works on the setup of the H2RES site in Copenhagen.

Situated on Ørsted's premises on Avedøre Holme, H2RES will have a capacity of 2 MW.

The project will investigate how to combine an electrolyser with the fluctuating power supply from offshore wind, using Ørsted's two 3.6 MW turbines at Avedøre Holme.

The facility will produce up to around 1,000 kg of renewable hydrogen a day to fuel zero-emission road transport in the Greater Copenhagen area and on the island of Zealand. According to the plan, the facility will produce its first hydrogen in late 2021.

"In less than three years, Ørsted has, with partners, established nine renewable hydrogen projects in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom so far, spanning from demonstration projects like H2RES to industrial-scale visions like the potentially 1,300 MW 'Green Fuels for Denmark' project," the company said in a press release.

Anders Nordstrøm, Vice President and Head of Ørsted's hydrogen and PtX activities, added, "H2RES will be a small, but very important first step in realising Ørsted's large ambitions for renewable hydrogen, which has fast proven itself as a centrepiece in the green transformation of the European economy to net-zero emissions by 2050."

He furthered, "At Ørsted, we believe that renewable hydrogen can become an industrial stronghold of several European economies, including Denmark, while also contributing significantly to bringing down emissions from the hard-to-abate sectors in transport and industry."

The Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program (EUDP), under the Danish Energy Agency, has previously awarded DKK34.6m to Ørsted for developing the H2RES project together with the company's partners: Everfuel Europe, NEL Hydrogen, Green Hydrogen Systems, DSV Panalpina, Hydrogen Denmark, and Energinet Elsystemansvar.

Photo: Filip Misiak Photography/Ørsted