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Siemens: World's largest electrolysis
system transforms wind power into hydrogen
Source: Florian
Martini, Stefan Rauscher
Starting next year, the jointly developed pilot plant will produce major quantities of hydrogen using electricity from renewable sources, mostly from nearby wind power stations. This hydrogen can be stored, loaded into tank trailers or fed directly into the natural gas grid, for use in generating heat or electricity. This makes it possible to store electricity from renewable energy sources. The growing network of hydrogen filling stations for emission-free fuel cell-powered vehicles can also be supplied from Mainz by tank trailers. "Innovations and state-of-the-art energy technologies are the keys to the energy supply of the future. Therefore, we must firmly establish and develop energy-related research as a strategic element of our energy policy," said Mr Gabriel. "Today, we are firing the starter's gun for an innovative storage technology that might well become an important building block of the German energy turnaround. More projects like this one are needed to leverage new energy technologies even stronger."
The project's aim is to further develop and test innovative technologies
for hydrogen electrolysis using renewable energy sources. Already today,
wind and solar power stations have to be switched off at times due to
insufficient capacity of the energy grid. This will probably happen even
more often in the future. At the new energy park, however, this "surplus"
sustainable electricity can be stored and used later, according to the
actual power demand. This is achieved by splitting water into hydrogen and
oxygen. In this way, renewable energy becomes more flexible and will be
available exactly when it's needed. At the heart of the research facility will be the electrolysis hall, featuring a hydrogen electrolysis system developed by Siemens. The principle of electrolysis has been tried and tested over a number of decades. What makes the Mainz plant stand out compared to other, smaller pilot projects is its potential power intake of 6 megawatts, making it the world's largest hydrogen electrolysis facility using modern PEM technology. This puts the plant in Mainz in an appropriate performance category to ease bottlenecks in the distribution network. To Professor Siegfried Russwurm, Member of the Executive Board of Siemens AG, the construction of the research plant means an important step towards the realization of a sustainable, industrial-grade hydrogen economy: "In order to shape the future of energy and business in Germany, political framework setting as well as sustainable research have to be on top of the agenda. With the PEM electrolysis that is used here, Siemens is offering a promising technology to turn the hydrogen vision into reality. We are extremely grateful to be part of this project. Stadtwerke Mainz proves to be both courageous and far-sighted by betting on water electrolysis as a part of tomorrow's power economy." "As a leading supplier of hydrogen plants we have since many years been working on the development of this environmentally friendly energy carrier," said Olaf Reckenhofer, responsible for Linde's gases business in central Europe. "What makes this energy park so special is that the partners are going to realize a pilot project in an unmatched order of magnitude. It will demonstrate the many advantages of hydrogen to an even broader public." Within this project, Linde is responsible for hydrogen purification, compression, storage and filling. The innovative features of Linde's proprietary ionic compression technology will enable a very energy-efficient compression and a highly flexible plant operation. The RheinMain University of Applied Sciences is in charge of the project's scientific aspects. The findings from the research project will be utilized and assessed as part of at least one doctorate thesis. "We are looking forward to bring our long-standing research expertise in sustainable energy application and storage to this ground-breaking project," says Professor Dr Christiane Jost, Vice President of the RheinMain University. "Young engineering students will get the opportunity to gain first-hand experience with these future-oriented technologies. That is exactly in line with our priority tasks."
"Stadtwerke Mainz is tackling a major task of the energy turnaround," said
Eveline Lemke, Minister for Economy, Climate Protection, Energy and
Regional Planning in Rhineland-Palatinate. "This is a huge step forward
for enterprises, for we will need large energy storage capacities. The
novel hydrogen electrolysers from Siemens are made for industrial-scale
use, and solutions like these are eagerly awaited elsewhere, too. Storing
solar and wind energy enhances our security of supply: the summer sun can
be stored until winter and strong winds for calm periods. Our state
capital is betting on the future of renewables."
Background information
and press pictures available at:
www.siemens.com/press/energiepark-mainz
The Linde Group is a
world-leading gases and engineering company with around 63,500 employees
in more than 100 countries. Under the "Clean Technology by Linde" label,
the company offers a wide range of products and technologies that help to
render renewable energy sources financially viable, and significantly slow
down the depletion of fossil resources or reduce the level of CO2 emitted.
This ranges from specialty gases for solar cell production,
industrial-scale CO2 separation and application technologies to
alternative fuels and energy carriers such as liquefied natural gas (LNG)
and hydrogen. www.linde.com/cleantechnology
Source:
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