By William Mathis (Bloomberg) —
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA and Siemens Energy AG plan to spend 120 million euros ($146 million) to figure out how to generate hydrogen from wind farms in the middle of the sea.
The companies aim to build a prototype with one of Siemens Gamesa’s new wind turbines that are the largest on the market with blades that stretch 222 meters (728 feet), roughly the length of two soccer pitches. It’s the latest effort by some of Europe’s biggest clean energy companies to get an edge in the growing market to produce hydrogen from renewable energy.
Clean-burning hydrogen is a key part of the European Union’s plan to effectively eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the century. Hydrogen made from a wind farm could be used to cut emissions from heavy industries or chemical producers that are struggling to limit their impact on the climate.