(Alliance News) - Dutch offshore wind farm developer CrossWind, a joint venture between Shell (80 percent) and Eneco (20 percent), has awarded Rosetti Marino Spa a new Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Installation and Commissioning contract. The company announced this in a statement Wednesday.

The contract calls for the construction of a green hydrogen production and storage facility -- dubbed the "Baseload Power Hub" -- located within CrossWind's Hollandse Kust Noord offshore wind farm, 18.5 kilometers off the Dutch coast.

"The innovative MegaWatt-scale pilot plant, fully integrated into an offshore wind farm, is a world first," the company explained in a note. "It converts excess wind energy into green hydrogen through an electrolyzer and stores it as green hydrogen that can be converted back into electricity when needed through Fuel Cells. The facility also includes batteries for short-term energy storage. The Baseload Power Hub aims to reduce the problem of the intermittent nature of wind power generation, as the wind does not blow continuously, by storing energy and releasing it when demand exceeds the wind farm's output."

The scope of work of the contract awarded to Rosetti Marino includes detailed engineering of the Baseload Power Hub, procurement of materials and equipment, construction work, transportation and installation at sea, commissioning and startup of the platform.

Oscar Guerra, managing director of the Ravenna-based company, said, "We are proud that an important client like CrossWind has chosen Rosetti Marino to carry out this extraordinary project. This is the first platform of its kind in the world and the first that will produce green offshore hydrogen for renewable energy storage. Rosetti Marino hopes that solutions like this will have a great following and it marks another important step toward diversification into renewable energy and the circular economy."

Maria Kalogera, Innovations Manager at CrossWind, said, "The implementation of the Baseload Power Hub together with Rosetti Marino will not only showcase CrossWind's commitment to innovation, but also demonstrate our dedication to fostering better energy solutions. We are excited to be at the forefront of integrating offshore electricity generation, storage and hydrogen conversion systems and look forward to witnessing the positive impact it will have on our energy landscape and accelerating the energy transition."

Activities will begin immediately, the note says, and are expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

Rosetti Marino's stock is up 2.2 percent at EUR37.80 per share.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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