Orsted tells BloombergNEF Summit that it is exploring the role of the offshore sector in the gas's production

Green hydrogen production from renewables is the next frontier for the wind power industry, according to Danish utility Orsted.

The developer is exploring the role of offshore wind in producing hydrogen for industry and as fuel for the shipping and aviation sectors, said Orsted senior vice president of corporate strategy and stakeholder relations Jakob Askou Boss.

“In the next 10 years we will see our power generation assets become something quite different ... and take renewables one step further down into the value chain,” he told the BloombergNEF Summit in London.

“The next step is converting black hydrogen made from fossil fuels to green hydrogen.”

BNEF chief executive Jon Moore said hydrogen is one of the key so-called “phase two technologies” to enable the transition to net zero by 2050, including biogas plants, coal/gas with caption capture, solar thermal and fuel cells.

Energy Transitions Commission director Faustine Delasalle said green hydrogen will be required as electricity is only “70% of the solution” to achieve net zero.

“We need to advance the technology as much as possible to scale up deployment and reduce costs,” she added.