Yongsoo OWC pilot plant in Korea is being prepared to produce green hydrogen

The Yongsoo wave energy power plant, installed at berth 1 in the Korean Institute KRISO-Wave Energy Test Site (WETS), is preparing to produce green hydrogen from next year, according to a report from Ocean Energy Systems.

Ocean Energy Systems (OES) is the short name for the Technology Collaboration Programme on Ocean Energy Systems, an intergovernmental collaboration between countries founded in 2001 which operates under a framework established by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris.

The KRISO WETS, located in the western part of Jeju Island, has been in operation since 2019. The test site has five berths, with a total capacity of 5 MW. The water depth ranges from 15 meters to 60 meters and is constructed to test different types of devices.

Diagram of the KRISO WETS. Source: OES.

The Yongsoo plant is a 500 kW fixed oscillating water column (OWC)-type wave energy converter. An OWC—either fixed or floating— uses a hollow structure open to the sea below the water surface to air above within the structure. Wave action alternately compresses and decompresses the trapped air, forcing it to flow through a turbine coupled to a generator.

The Yongsoo pilot plant is 37 m long and 31 m wide, equipped with two axial-flow impulse turbines and two 250 kW generators, and is grid-connected by a 22.9 kV AC underwater cable.

It was operated to evaluate the performance of the wave power generation system, to demonstrate the optimal operation control logic, and to verify the digital twin technology.

The two units will be changed from synchronous generators to permanent magnet synchronous generators and the test operation will be completed this year. From next year, green hydrogen will be produced offshore using marine energy power. The basic design of the hydrogen production system has been completed; manufacturing and onshore performance testing in planned for this year.