South Florida-based ocean energy company OceanBased Perpetual Energy has signed a four-year contract to produce commercial-grade green hydrogen for South Carolina engineering firm Summit Worx .
OceanBased will produce hydrogen using electrolysis powered solely by electricity generated from the perpetual flow of Florida’s Gulf Stream.
Summit Worx will assist OceanBased in building and integrating a fresh water electrolyser that will include a self-contained desalination unit aboard a sea-based hydrogen production facility.
It also will design transportable storage containers needed to transport, use and resell the resulting clean hydrogen. No ocean-to-shore cabling will be entailed.
With an electricity generation projection of one megawatt during the first year of operation and five megawatts thereafter, OceanBased expects to produce 155,125 kilos of hydrogen per year during the first year of operation and 775,625 kilos over five years.
Summit Worx will purchase 100 percent of the hydrogen produced until 2025. Starting in 2026 the production of hydrogen by OceanBased will begin to increase as it installs more turbines, for a projected 31,000,000 kilos of hydrogen production by year 2030.
“This is 100 percent green energy technology. It will change the course for renewable energy and baseload-capable clean power.”
Together with Summit Worx, OceanBased is developing the technology and manufacturing supply lines, as well as securing the necessary licensing and permitting to be the first to commercialise ocean current energy in the United States.
The Port of Fort Pierce will be the delivery as well as the acceptance point of the OceanBased hydrogen transportation to Summit Worx.