Germany explores hydrogen production from seawater at wind farms.

Hydrogen from Waves and Wind

In July 2025, the SalYsAse project was launched. Its goal is to develop technology for producing hydrogen directly from seawater, near offshore wind farms in the North Sea and Baltic Sea. The project is led by the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, in collaboration with Kiel University of Applied Sciences and technology company Element22. The project is funded with €733,000 from the German Ministry of Research.

Why does this idea make sense?

Today, many offshore wind farms produce more electricity than can be transmitted to shore. When transmission networks are overloaded or demand is too low, wind turbines are temporarily shut down — wasting valuable green energy. The SalYsAse project addresses this issue innovatively: by using the excess energy directly onsite to produce hydrogen, eliminating the need to send electricity back to land.

As an energy carrier, hydrogen can then be relatively easily transported to heavy industries (e.g., steel or chemical sectors), where it can replace fossil fuels in hard-to-decarbonize processes.

Seawater as a Raw Material?

Electrolysis — the process of splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen — has traditionally relied almost exclusively on freshwater, free of salts and minerals. This poses a major limitation: only about 2.5% of the world’s water is freshwater, and its availability is becoming increasingly problematic. Desalination of seawater, meanwhile, involves high costs and energy consumption.

The SalYsAse project aims to bypass this step entirely: using seawater directly, without pre-treatment. This, however, presents a serious challenge. Seawater salts can cause corrosion of electrodes, produce toxic byproducts (such as chlorine), and lead to undesired chemical reactions in the electrolysis system. So how are scientists addressing these risks?

Biocatalysis Using Marine Bacteria

The core innovation of SalYsAse is the use of marine microorganisms as biocatalysts in the electrolysis process. As explained by Prof. Dr. Mirjam Perner, a geomicrobiologist at GEOMAR and project leader, the team’s goal is to replace expensive and rare metals (such as iridium) with natural, eco-friendly catalysts — bacteria from the North and Baltic Seas, which are well-adapted to saline environments.

These microorganisms not only help reduce corrosion, but also improve the efficiency of oxygen and hydrogen separation. In this way, they help minimize the formation of unwanted byproducts.

Porous Titanium Structures and a Novel Electrolyzer Design

The SalYsAse team is combining biology with advanced materials engineering. A key element of the system is the use of porous, corrosion-resistant titanium layers, which serve three functions:

• conduct electricity,
• transport water and gas,
• serve as a carrier for catalytic bacteria.

As a result, the biological catalysis process takes place directly within the electrolytic cell, integrating natural sciences with material engineering.

As Florian Gerdts from Element22 emphasizes, this kind of design could revolutionize the way we think about electrolysis.

Industrial Potential and Global Impact

If the technology developed under SalYsAse proves effective and scalable, it could become a turning point for the entire hydrogen industry. Producing hydrogen directly from seawater at renewable energy generation sites is a concept with huge economic and environmental potential. It paves the way for local, decentralized hydrogen production hubs that don’t depend on freshwater availability or large transmission infrastructure.

Source: chemengonline.com