INSPIRE: Innovative design and operation for rare earth material reduction and optimized lifetime for next generation offshore wind-based hydrogen production

At a glance

• The demand for rare earth elements in electrolyzers and offshore wind turbines is high, leading to dependencies on the main producer, China. In addition, the production of rare earth elements comes with significant environmental impacts.
• The international research project INSPIRE is thus aiming to develop a holistic approach for the production of green hydrogen from offshore electricity that considerably reduces the use of rare earth elements through optimized design and AI-supported operational management.
• Fraunhofer IWES is responsible among other things for the development of innovative drive trains for wind turbines in the 15 MW+ range and the concept for an INSPIRE Green Hydrogen Farm.

The challenge

As part of the European Green Deal, the EU has set itself the aim of significantly advancing the expansion of the offshore wind energy sector and the use of green hydrogen in the energy system. This is likely to be accompanied by a massive increase in the use of rare earth elements (REE), which are employed both in the permanent magnets of the generators in offshore wind turbines and as catalysts in electrolysis. As China is currently the main supplier of REE to Europe, there is the risk of a supply shortage, as Chinese demand for REE is also increasing dynamically. At the same time, the production of rare earth elements comes with significant environmental impacts. 

The solution

The international research project INSPIRE is thus aiming to develop concepts for the production of green hydrogen with minimal use of rare earth elements. To achieve this goal, INSPIRE is based on a holistic approach to REE reduction and the lifetime optimization of wind-hydrogen systems. It takes all aspects of the process into consideration, from the design of the wind turbine drive trains to the AI-optimized operation of the wind farms and electrolyzers. The new tools and models will be demonstrated using two case studies with real measurement data: a virtual floating wind farm without grid access (the INSPIRE Green Hydrogen Farm comprising 25 wind turbines with a capacity of 15 MW each) and an on-grid system based on data from the Belgian offshore wind farm Norther, which can either feed electricity into the grid or utilize it to produce green hydrogen.

Fraunhofer IWES is responsible among other things for the determination of REE-optimized drive train designs, a geared medium-speed concept with an output of at least 15 MW. In addition, Fraunhofer IWES is also focusing its efforts on the further development and optimization of the use of electrolyzer types and systems for the production of green hydrogen as well as the definition of the INSPIRE Green Hydrogen Farm. 

The added value

INSPIRE will help to reduce the use of rare earth elements in the production of green hydrogen significantly. The project will provide the reference design for a freely accessible 675 MW wind-hydrogen plant with minimized REE demand and an optimized lifetime. At the same time, INSPIRE will pave the way for translating these developments into political and industrial standards.
 

To the INSPIRE-Homepage: https://www.ntnu.edu/imt/inspire