- Email: [email protected]
Air Liquide, Houpu open first station in Zhejiang Province
NEWS p9], Rotherham on the M1 [September 2015, p1], Kirkwall in Orkney [see the ‘BIG HIT’ News Feature in October 2016], and Swindon on the M4 [October 2018, p9]. The new station is the second of two in the UK (with Swindon) deployed under the panEuropean H2ME2 project [June 2016, p1], funded by the EU-supported Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) and the UK’s Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV). It is the third Shell branded hydrogen refueling site in the UK. ITM recently extended its hydrogen refueling collaboration agreement with Shell to 2024, covering refueling of all types of hydrogen vehicles, from cars to commercial vehicles, buses, trucks, trains, and ships [June 2019, p9]. The company manufactures integrated hydrogen energy solutions for grid balancing, energy storage, and the production of ‘green’ hydrogen [see the feature in January 2012]. In the summer it signed the lease for the world’s largest electrolyser factory in Sheffield, with a production capacity of 1 GW per annum [August 2019, p11]. ITM Power: www.itm-power.com Shell, Hydrogen Fuel: http://tinyurl.com/shell-h2 Hydrogen Mobility Europe: www.h2me.eu Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking: www.fch.europa.eu UK Office of Low Emission Vehicles: http://tinyurl.com/uk-olev
Air Liquide, Houpu open first station in Zhejiang Province
T
he first hydrogen refueling station in Zhejiang Province, China, was inaugurated in mid-October. The facility is equipped with technology supplied by the Air Liquide Houpu joint venture, and will be operated by Sinopec (China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation). This station is the first by Air Liquide Houpu, a joint venture created in the spring that combines Air Liquide’s global technological expertise in hydrogen solutions for clean mobility with Houpu’s leadership in the design and construction of natural gas stations in the Chinese market [FCB, May 2019, p9]. The facility is located in the city of Jiashan, on the southern edge of Shanghai, and is integrated into a multi-energy Sinopec service station. It is capable of daily refueling more than 30 of the 100 hydrogen electric buses that
November 2019
the municipality plans to roll out in the next few months. The combination of their respective knowhow means that Air Liquide [see also page 10] and Houpu are able to provide customers with state-of-the-art hydrogen solutions and meet the growing demand in the Chinese market for energy-efficient, environmentally friendly energy solutions [December 2018, p11].
GREEN HYDROGEN
Tractebel plans green hydrogen production using offshore wind
G
University of Edinburgh, School of GeoSciences: www.ed.ac.uk/geosciences
erman companies Tractebel Engineering GmbH and Tractebel Overdick GmbH are developing a unique concept for an offshore platform, to produce ‘green’ hydrogen from offshore wind energy on an industrial scale using electrolysis. Delivering up to 400 MW, such plants would greatly exceed the output of previous technologies, and could be put into practice today, for example in the North Sea. The innovative offshore platform would enable a number of tasks to be solved simultaneously. For example, the proportion of green hydrogen in the energy mix could be increased on a CO2-neutral basis, and the wide range of options for transporting hydrogen provide relief for the electricity transmission grid, which has limited capacity. Hydrogen can also be used as an efficient energy storage medium to balance out seasonal fluctuations in renewable energy sources. Tractebel sees enormous potential for CO2-neutral hydrogen production in largescale offshore wind farms. Its engineers are working on a detailed solution for using a new type of platform model at an industrial scale, i.e. 400 MW. It accommodates all the technical components required for production, including electrolysis units, transformers, and desalinisation plants. The transportation of the energy generated in this way can be done via pipeline or ship, offering an alternative to overloaded cable lines on the seabed or overland. Although the costs of green hydrogen are currently somewhat higher than for ‘grey’ hydrogen from fossil sources, higher taxation of CO2 emissions and other actions would ensure greater equality of opportunities. The critical cost factors are system design and plant efficiency. The Tractebel concept includes appropriate solutions for costoptimised designs and efficient operation. Tractebel is capable of undertaking all the engineering services for every stage of planning, from the feasibility study to detailed design. Moreover, as part of the Engie Group [see pages 6 and 7], it is well placed to deliver and operate offshore hydrogen platforms as an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) supplier, and to offer large-scale storage solutions.
Scottish Carbon Capture & Storage: www.sccs.org.uk
Tractebel: www.tractebel-engie.com
Air Liquide, Hydrogen Energy: http://tinyurl.com/hydrogen-energy-airliquide Houpu Clean Energy Co: http://en.hqhop.com
ENERGY STORAGE & P2G
Edinburgh project on underground hydrogen storage to cut carbon
G
eoscientists at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, UK have been awarded £1.4 million (US$1.8 million) in funding to study how hydrogen can be stored underground, in pioneering work on a technology that could aid efforts to decarbonise the UK’s energy sector. The project aims to improve understanding of hydrogen storage, and will look at the fundamental physical and chemical processes. The researchers will use state-of-the-art experimental facilities to study how hydrogen reacts and moves underground, and software to work out how to efficiently inject and recover the gas. They will also engage with the public to ensure that hydrogen storage develops in a way that is both technically feasible and socially acceptable. The three-year HyStorPor (Hydrogen Storage in Porous Media) project is funded by the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, and will be coordinated by Scottish Carbon Capture & Storage – the UK’s largest carbon capture and storage (CCS) research group – at a new multidisciplinary hub based at the University of Edinburgh. The team is led by Stuart Haszeldine, Professor of Carbon Capture and Storage, and includes other Edinburgh scientists, as well as researchers at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, and Imperial College London. The project is supported by an international advisory board including representatives from industry and government.
Fuel Cells Bulletin
11
Air Liquide, Houpu open first station in Zhejiang Province
T
he first hydrogen refueling station in Zhejiang Province, China, was inaugurated in mid-October. The facility is equipped with technology supplied by the Air Liquide Houpu joint venture, and will be operated by Sinopec (China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation). This station is the first by Air Liquide Houpu, a joint venture created in the spring that combines Air Liquide’s global technological expertise in hydrogen solutions for clean mobility with Houpu’s leadership in the design and construction of natural gas stations in the Chinese market [FCB, May 2019, p9]. The facility is located in the city of Jiashan, on the southern edge of Shanghai, and is integrated into a multi-energy Sinopec service station. It is capable of daily refueling more than 30 of the 100 hydrogen electric buses that
November 2019
the municipality plans to roll out in the next few months. The combination of their respective knowhow means that Air Liquide [see also page 10] and Houpu are able to provide customers with state-of-the-art hydrogen solutions and meet the growing demand in the Chinese market for energy-efficient, environmentally friendly energy solutions [December 2018, p11].
GREEN HYDROGEN
Tractebel plans green hydrogen production using offshore wind
G
University of Edinburgh, School of GeoSciences: www.ed.ac.uk/geosciences
erman companies Tractebel Engineering GmbH and Tractebel Overdick GmbH are developing a unique concept for an offshore platform, to produce ‘green’ hydrogen from offshore wind energy on an industrial scale using electrolysis. Delivering up to 400 MW, such plants would greatly exceed the output of previous technologies, and could be put into practice today, for example in the North Sea. The innovative offshore platform would enable a number of tasks to be solved simultaneously. For example, the proportion of green hydrogen in the energy mix could be increased on a CO2-neutral basis, and the wide range of options for transporting hydrogen provide relief for the electricity transmission grid, which has limited capacity. Hydrogen can also be used as an efficient energy storage medium to balance out seasonal fluctuations in renewable energy sources. Tractebel sees enormous potential for CO2-neutral hydrogen production in largescale offshore wind farms. Its engineers are working on a detailed solution for using a new type of platform model at an industrial scale, i.e. 400 MW. It accommodates all the technical components required for production, including electrolysis units, transformers, and desalinisation plants. The transportation of the energy generated in this way can be done via pipeline or ship, offering an alternative to overloaded cable lines on the seabed or overland. Although the costs of green hydrogen are currently somewhat higher than for ‘grey’ hydrogen from fossil sources, higher taxation of CO2 emissions and other actions would ensure greater equality of opportunities. The critical cost factors are system design and plant efficiency. The Tractebel concept includes appropriate solutions for costoptimised designs and efficient operation. Tractebel is capable of undertaking all the engineering services for every stage of planning, from the feasibility study to detailed design. Moreover, as part of the Engie Group [see pages 6 and 7], it is well placed to deliver and operate offshore hydrogen platforms as an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) supplier, and to offer large-scale storage solutions.
Scottish Carbon Capture & Storage: www.sccs.org.uk
Tractebel: www.tractebel-engie.com
Air Liquide, Hydrogen Energy: http://tinyurl.com/hydrogen-energy-airliquide Houpu Clean Energy Co: http://en.hqhop.com
ENERGY STORAGE & P2G
Edinburgh project on underground hydrogen storage to cut carbon
G
eoscientists at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, UK have been awarded £1.4 million (US$1.8 million) in funding to study how hydrogen can be stored underground, in pioneering work on a technology that could aid efforts to decarbonise the UK’s energy sector. The project aims to improve understanding of hydrogen storage, and will look at the fundamental physical and chemical processes. The researchers will use state-of-the-art experimental facilities to study how hydrogen reacts and moves underground, and software to work out how to efficiently inject and recover the gas. They will also engage with the public to ensure that hydrogen storage develops in a way that is both technically feasible and socially acceptable. The three-year HyStorPor (Hydrogen Storage in Porous Media) project is funded by the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, and will be coordinated by Scottish Carbon Capture & Storage – the UK’s largest carbon capture and storage (CCS) research group – at a new multidisciplinary hub based at the University of Edinburgh. The team is led by Stuart Haszeldine, Professor of Carbon Capture and Storage, and includes other Edinburgh scientists, as well as researchers at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, and Imperial College London. The project is supported by an international advisory board including representatives from industry and government.
Fuel Cells Bulletin
11