ELECTRONICS AND ENERGY ACCUMULATION LABORATORY
Hydrogen and Renewable Energies
Background
Is the most plentiful element in the universe Is colourless, odourless, insipid, non-toxic and highly inflammable Has the highest energy/weight ratio Is not a source of energy but a form of storage. It is an energetic energetic
vectorvector Its combustion only produces H2O. It is a non-pollutant fuel Does not exist in free form. It needs to be produced:
Fossil fuels Biomass Electrolysis Photoelectrochemistry …..
If it is produced from renewable energiesrenewable energies the cycle has zero-emissions
Hydrogen:
coal
natural gas
bio- mass
nuclear heat
nuclear electric
wind
solar PV hydro
Residential Com-
mercial Tertiary
...
solar ther- mal
H 2
Sources and Uses of Hydrogen
…
Fuel Cell TechnologyFuels and applications
BackgroundHydrogen can be stored in:
Gas state. The low density of H2 means that less energy per unit of volume is stored
Advantage LOW COST AND GREAT DEVELOPMENT AND RELIABILITY
Disadvantage LARGE VOLUMES AND HIGH PRESSURES
Liquid state. Its low boiling point (20K) means cryogenic recipients are required
Advantage HIGH DENSITY AND LESS WEIGHT Disadvantage SAFETY PROBLEMS, HIGH CONSUMPTION
OF ENERGY AND HIGH COST
Solid state (HYDRIDES). H2 reacts with different metals or intermetallic compounds forming HYDRIDES
Advantage MORE STORAGE PER UNIT OF VOLUME, REVERSIBLE REACTION, LOW PRESSURE AND SAFETY
Disadvantage RELATIVELY HIGH WEIGHT
BackgroundThe applications can be:
Stationary. Housing
Transport. Cars Submarines Boats Aeroplanes...
Portable items. PCs Mobile phones, etc.
Isolated system.
Energy accumulation: Integration of the RES in the network.
Source: CENER
Source: MTI Company
Studies have been carried out that analyse the feasibility of the integration of renewable energies with hydrogen
Several demonstration projects have been set up that enable the results of the preliminary studies to be put into practice
Numerous patents have been applied for and accepted
The European Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Platform has been created
Activities in Europe
HH22 filling station for CUTE and Citycell busesfilling station for CUTE and Citycell buses( Madrid, April 28th, 2003 )
H2H2 filling station for filling station for CUTE busesCUTE buses(Barcelona, April 9th, 2003)
Hydrogen development strategie . Road Map.
Cener’s position
1. Increase the penetration of renewable energies into the electricity network.
2. Make the renewable energies similar to conventional sources, which will enable a better management of them by the operator of the electrical system.
3. Reduce the dependence on imported fossil fuels and increase the energy and environmental sustainability of the region.
4. Provide innovation for energy storage systems.
Cener’s activity is focused on the application of hydrogen as an energy accumulationenergy accumulation system, with the objective of increasing and improving the penetration of renewable energies in the electrical system. It considers electrolysis from renewable energies (in particular from wind energy) as a production system. Hydrogen produced in this way is what is known as green hydrogen. The use of hydrogen can:
CENER – Government of Navarre, (SPAIN)
Objective: To develop an integrated technological solution in which the hydrogen vector will act as a means for accumulating energy from wind energy in such a way that its re-conversion into electrical energy as required facilitates its integration into the electrical system.
The purpose behind this work consists of advancing and developing an industrial-scale technical solution, which is economically interesting, which could be commercialised within 5 to 10 years.
Studies
Cener’s positionCener has two laboratories for research and experimentation in this field:
Electrochemical Laboratory.
Laboratory for Integrating Hydrogen and Renewable Energies.
Hydrogen Storage
Efficiency of Hydrogen production 75 %
Efficiency of compression 96 %
Efficiency of recover energy systems
Turbines 30-32 % Combustion 44 % Fuel Cells 55 % Hybrid Systems 75- 85 %
• High temperature+ gas turbine Suppliers of Hybrids systems
Siemens, Westinghouse, Fuel Cells Energy+MTU Current power limit 200 KW
Hydrogen costs
Wind Farm scale 50 MW
Total Investment approx. 2,5- 3,0 M€/ MW Fuel cells 4.000 €/KW Hybrid systems 10.000 €/kw
Operational life time 15-20 years
TIR of investment positive>15 years
Peripheral maritime regions
In most cases, peripheral maritime regions have some particularities derived from their situation and/or commercial activities:
Hydrogen, as a means of energy storage, can minimHydrogen, as a means of energy storage, can minimiise or solve se or solve these problems in the next futurethese problems in the next future
1. Weak networks or even disconnection of networks (islands and remote communities)
2. High renewable resources in the sea (offshore wind farms) that require more costly transport networks
3. High seasonal energy consumption (Mediterranean coast) 4. Management of demand in ports
Utsira Project (IEA)Norwegian and German companies (Enercon), Norwegian government
Objectives: To demonstrate an autonomous energy
system To integrate developed, novelty
hydrogen technologies with renewable energies
Demonstration projects
Hydrogen Generation from Stand-Alone Wind-Powered Electrolysis Systems (IEA, Task 11)Energy Research Unit, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (UK), Casaccia Research Centre (Italy), Institute for Technical Thermodynamics (Germany), Department of Engineering, University of Leicester (UK)
Objectives: To improve the control of the aerogenerator to improve
the quality of the energy To examine the tolerance of an electrolyser in a
fluctuating supply To design and construct a small-scale isolated system
of hydrogen (< 10 kW) To assess the economic costs
Demonstration projects
Cluster Pilot Project for the Integration of RES into European Energy Sectors using Hydrogen (RES2H2) (IEA) Spain, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, Greece and Cyprus
Objectives: Clean production of hydrogen using wind energy To solve the problem of storing excess energy To obtain water from the renewable-H2 system
Demonstration projects
PROIDRI (CNR ITAE-UNICT DIEES, Italy). Objective: Development of integrated systems of renewables
with hydrogen Development of a prototype of the system To improve the characteristics of the electrolysers Study of the losses associated with converters and adaptors
HIDROTEC (Corporación Tecnalia). Objective: Introduction of a demonstration plant with multiple
applications to assess the various options of sustainable energy solutions based on hydrogen
Scenes selected for simulation: Hydrogen filling station for transport Hydrogen storage to increase the availability of high power
wind farms Autonomous isolated systems
Other demonstration projects
Hydrogen and Renewables Integration Project (HaRI)CREST (Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology) at Loughborough University
Objectives: To investigate energy storage methods generated by
renewable sources
Hydrogen Demo Project in UK: PURE-Promoting Unst Renewable EnergyShetland Council
Objectives: To demonstrate the feasibility of systems based on
renewables and hydrogen Sustainable use of energy resources that are found in the
isolated communities
Demonstration projects
AEROPILA, BESEL
Objective: Installation of an isolated system based on renewable energies and hydrogen for stationary and transport applications
Pilot plant (operating since 2004).
Other demonstration projects
RenewIslands Objective: To increase the penetration into the market of new
energy systems combining fuel cell technology, renewable energies and hydrogen in islands and remote regions in Europe and third-world countries.
Tesis NTNU, Norway (C.J. Greiner) Objective: Analysis of the production of hydrogen from wind
energy from an economic and environmental point of view.
Renewable-H2 Objective: To assess the European activities in H2 and
renewables and the bodies involved, to set up interaction with national programmes and H2 networks, to identify opportunities for integrating renewables in the “hydrogen economy” and to assess the possibility of setting up an Excellence Centre.
Studies
Altman M., Richert, F., Hydrogen production at offshore wind farms. Offshore Wind Energy Special Topic Conference, Belgium, Dec 2001.
Making the most of maritime wind resources (North Sea). Offshore platforms for producing hydrogen through the electrolysis of desalinated water.
Eliminate the electrical connections to land. H2 has diverse applications (H2 common industry, fuel, energy
vector).
Studies
Conclusions
Hydrogen is beginning to look like one of the large-scale energy accumulation systems. It will enable us to increase the penetration of renewable energies into the energy market, the quality of the energy and the stabilisation of the network.
If the production of hydrogen is though electrolysis based on renewables, the cycle has zero emissions.
It can serve as a support in the case of regions with a high energy dependence or with weak networks.
In Europe, demonstration projects are being developed with the aim of showing the feasibility of the H2-RES system.
Conclusions
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