The Netherlands’ move to significantly increase its offshore wind footprint is a key indicator that green hydrogen’s rapid move up the agenda is accelerating, with enormous potential for multiple industries on the path to net zero.

Lowering costs of renewable energy and improving the technology needed to facilitate its production, transport, and storage as needed before it can scale: Thermoplastic Composite Pipe (TCP) provides an already-available solution for transportation which reduces scope 1 and 2 emissions.

IJmuiden-headquartered Strohm, through an £8.4m investment from HydrogenOne earlier this year, is leading the development of safe, dependable TCP solutions to carry green hydrogen generated offshore to land based facilities using its subsea pipe infrastructure.

Martin van Onna, managing director of Strohm, said: 
“As a Dutch company, our focus is naturally on serving the country’s growing offshore wind sector, by enabling transportation of energy via pipeline, we recognised the fit between clean hydrogen and offshore wind at an early stage.

“Our location close to the new fields being developed allowed us to propose and manufacture a scalable TCP solution, with additional investment in our facilities and new jobs created to ramp up production as demand skyrockets. 

“Its availability can add to policymakers’ confidence that the industry, specifically the talented engineering and innovation leaders operating in The Netherlands, is able to quickly address what is an urgent need.

“TCP can transfer up to nine times the amount of energy compared to a cable, and can be used to store hydrogen, increasing the uptime of offshore wind farms. Its flexibility, lack of corrosion, fatigue and embrittlement make it the superior pipeline solution for offshore wind farms generating hydrogen.”

TCP is more cost effective than steel pipe and has c.50% less manufacturing greenhouse gas emissions. As TCP is flexible, it can be installed offshore easily and quickly, using the same methods currently used for array cables. The technology can be used to safely transport hydrogen, CO2, ammonia and water, where steel solutions suffer from embrittlement and corrosion.