By harnessing the power of the tide at EMEC’s tidal energy test site at the Fall of Warness, Eday, Orkney, prototype tidal energy converters—Scotrenewables’ SR2000 and Tocardo’s TFS and T2 turbine—fed power into an electrolyzer supplied by ITM Power situated next to EMEC’s onshore substation.

The electrolyzer is housed in a standard 20' by 10' ISO container with hydrogen generation capacity of up to 220 kg/24 hours.

EMEC’s investment in hydrogen production capability has been made possible by funding of £3 million (US$4 million) from the Scottish Government, made available through Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

ITM Power won a competitive tender to supply a system to EMEC back in 2015. The system’s principal component, a 0.5MW polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzer, comes with integrated compression and up to 500kg of storage.

The Surf ‘n’ Turf project will see the electrolyzer producing hydrogen using electricity from EMEC’s test site as well as power from a 900kW Enercon wind turbine owned by the Eday community. The hydrogen will then be transported to Kirkwall, where a fuel cell installed on the pier will convert the hydrogen back into electricity for use as auxiliary power for ferries when tied up overnight. The project is also developing a training programme with a view to green hydrogen eventually being used as a fuel source on the inter-island ferries themselves.