Project description
Innovative power-to-X-to-power solutions
The use of alternative carbon-free fuels in existing power plants and a high penetration of renewable energy sources into the grid are required in order to meet EU 2030 and 2050 climate and energy goals. As such, combined-cycle gas turbine plants represent a crucial technology with the required flexibility to compensate for the intermittency of renewable energy sources like wind and solar. The EU-funded FLEXnCONFU project will develop innovative, economical, viable and replicable power-to-X-to-power solutions to be integrated to existing and new power plant to level the load, and to un-tap their flexibility, converting electricity into hydrogen or ammonia to be in turn locally re-used in the same power plant to respond to varying demand, thus reducing time their environmental impact. A 1MW scale power-to-hydrogen-to-power system will be integrated in a real operational environment in Portugal (EDP’s Ribatejo power plant) while a small-scale power-to-ammonia-to-power solutions will be coupled with a mGT properly modified to burn ammonia in Savona Smart Microgrid laboratory.
Objective
Natural gas (NG) fired Combined Cycle (CC) power plants are currently considered the most flexible power plants to operate in the EU grid to facilitate RES penetration. They changed their role in the EU electric market from the backbone of EU electrical grid to providing most of regulation services necessary to increase the share of non-programmable renewable sources into the electrical grid. In order to enhance their flexibility and also start to sell flexibility/ancillary services (also considering potential virtual aggregation), GT Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Utilities are investigating new strategies and technologies for power flexibility, also considering that a “fuel switch” is close foreseen from coal to NG among most used fossil based dispatchable power plants and that the role of CC will be of “RES best friends” at least up to 2030. In this sense reducing their emission is also a strong need of GT R&D panorama promoting the exploitation of different fuels than Natural gas only. FLEXnCONFU aims to demonstrate at TRL7 in Ribatejo EDPP CC Power Plant a Power-to-gas-to-power (P2G2P) solution that will enhance CC flexibility (thus enabling them to provide grid flexibility services and getting higher revenues), reduce their NG consumption and therefore their related emission. The P2G2P system will be based on a Power-to-Hydrogen solution developed by HYGS+ICI, while a Power-to-ammonia-to-power solution developed by PROTON and ICI will be demonstrated in a properly modified microgas turbine operating in a UNIGE laboratory within the Savona Smart Microgrid (TRL6). The P2G2P solution will be directly controlled by a grid driven/responsive management system developed by MAS. GT combustion acceptability of different NG/H2/NH3 mixtures will be studied in CU labs. FLEXnCONFU will be a demonstration to market project and upscale and replication of the demonstrate P2H/P2A will be studied (in ENGIE and TP CC plants) and properly promoted by ETN.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectrical engineeringpower engineeringelectric power distribution
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsfossil energycoal
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsfossil energynatural gas
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
IA - Innovation actionCoordinator
16129 Genova
Italy
See on map
Participants (21)
1249 300 Lisbon
See on map
Legal entity other than a subcontractor which is affiliated or legally linked to a participant. The entity carries out work under the conditions laid down in the Grant Agreement, supplies goods or provides services for the action, but did not sign the Grant Agreement. A third party abides by the rules applicable to its related participant under the Grant Agreement with regard to eligibility of costs and control of expenditure.
4050 009 Porto
See on map
2685 039 Sacavem E Prior Velho Lisboa
See on map
2260 Westerlo
See on map
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
57001 Thermi Thessaloniki
See on map
50127 Firenze
See on map
1060 Bruxelles / Brussel
See on map
3115 JD Schiedam
See on map
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
104 43 Athens
See on map
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
50018 Zaragoza
See on map
16126 Genova
See on map
CF24 0DE Cardiff
See on map
64289 Darmstadt
See on map
1348 Louvain La Neuve
See on map
100 44 Stockholm
See on map
75015 PARIS 15
See on map
5612 AE Eindhoven
See on map
00187 Roma
See on map
1630 Linkebeek
See on map
45067 Orleans Cedex 2
See on map
37059 Campagnola Di Zevio
See on map
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.