Shell and Eneco Pick Designer of Energy Storage Hub Offshore Netherlands

December 5, 2022, by Adnan Durakovic

Houston-headquartered engineering, construction, and services company, KBR, has been awarded a contract to provide engineering services for an offshore energy storage project for CrossWind, a joint venture between Shell and Dutch utility company, Eneco.

Illustration; Eneco Luchterduinen offshore wind farm; Photo source: Eneco

KBR will perform a front-end engineering design of the baseload power hub (BLPH) for the Hollandse Kust noord wind farm located offshore the Netherlands.

KBR and Shell will design and develop facilities that integrate lithium-ion battery storage and green hydrogen electrolysis production at megawatt scale.

The design is expected to enable hydrogen production and electricity storage in periods of high-power production and will convert hydrogen to electricity, via a fuel cell, during periods of lower power production.

”KBR is extremely pleased to be involved in this sustainable energy project,” said Jay Ibrahim, president of KBR Sustainable Technology Solutions.

”To solve the current global ‘energy trilemma,’ the world needs an energy mix that relies more on wind, solar and nuclear power. With our deep expertise in engineering and energy solutions, KBR is positioned to help our valued customers — partners like the CrossWind JV —drive the energy transition.”

The 759 MW Hollandse Kust noord, located some 18.5 kilometres off the west coast of the Netherlands, will comprise 69 Siemens Gamesa 11 MW turbines.

Hollandse Kust noord will also comprise five technology solutions to ensure continuous power supply.

These include a floating solar park, short-term battery storage, wind turbines that are optimally tuned to the network to minimise the negative ‘wake’-effects that wind turbines have on each other, green hydrogen made by electrolysis as a further storage technique, and the combination of these individual measures to ensure a continuous power supply regardless of the wind situation.