Grid Integrated Multi Megawatt High Pressure Alkaline Electrolysers for Energy Applications

Project Information

ELYntegration

Grant agreement ID: 671458

DOI

10.3030/671458

Project closed

EC signature date 10 July 2015

Start date 1 September 2015

End date 31 May 2019

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy

Total cost

€ 3 301 391,25

EU contribution

€ 1 861 309,00

Coordinated by

FUNDACION PARA EL DESARROLLO DE LAS NUEVAS TECNOLOGIAS DEL HIDROGENO EN ARAGON
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ELYntegration (Grid Integrated Multi Megawatt High Pressure Alkaline Electrolysers for Energy Applications)

Reporting period: 2017-03-01 to 2019-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Main goal: to design and engineer a robust, flexible, efficient and cost-competitive single stack Multi Megawatt High Pressure Alkaline Water Electrolysis (MW HP AWE) of 4,5 T H2/day capable to provide cutting-edge operational capabilities under highly dynamic power supplies expected in the frame of generation/ transmission/ distribution scenarios integrating high renewable energies (RE) shares.

Specific objectives:
• High system efficiency and high current density
• Flexibility
• Durability
• Enhanced communication and control capabilities
• Regulatory frameworks, standards, tariffs, scenarios and end-users
• Business scenarios and business models

Achievements and conclusions:
• Stack efficiency: 77-88% HHV at medium current density and 69-72% at high current density. If the novel electrodes could be implemented at industrial size, efficiency at high current density could increase up to 73-76% HHV.
• Current density: 0.5 A/cm2 with novel membranes and up to 0.7 A/cm2 for novel electrodes tested at pilot scale.
• Gas purities: 65% and 20% HTO improvement at 30 barg with new cell assembly and novel membranes respectively (in comparison with commercial membranes).
• Reaction time: few seconds at warm conditions with SoA power electronics.
• CAPEX: below 600€/kW for installations of more than 6 MW.

The final design of the MW HP AWE has been achieved on the basis of the development, validation and demonstration of a HP AWE industrial prototype.
Thanks to the improvements in terms of dynamic electrolyser performance, new and potentially profitable business models are available to investors and operators of AWE. Potential exemptions from end-user prices for electricity, e.g. RES surcharges or network charges are significant for profitable electrolyser integration into power systems.
Some of the novel materials/components developed in the project could be upscaled and manufactured to match the market requirements. The results on dynamic testing and protocols have contributed to the development of test designs, in order to establish the requirements for dynamic operation and AST for AWE providing grid balancing services.
The C&CS developed in ELYntegration to allow connectivity with grid operators is the basis to add features based on data analytics such as optimized operation (with energy efficiency and robustness criteria) or predictive maintenance which are demanded by electrolysis industry today.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

A review of the regulatory framework for the integration of electrolysers into electricity power grids was conducted.
Potential new business models (BM) for electrolysers in view of high shares of renewable energies were investigated. A profitable electrolyser operation can be achieved both for BM with cross-commodity arbitrage trading and provision of control reserve, in view of H2 mobility.
The electricity cost has the major impact in MW installations according to LCC analysis.

Novel membranes and advanced electrodes were developed and tested at lab and micropilot scale. Stacks with 2 sets of novel membranes and 2 sets of advanced electrodes were assembled for testing and evaluation at pilot scale. The powder metallurgical route demonstrated to be suited for the industrial production of electrodes with high quality. The most promising membrane was produced at market size and assembled into the stack for testing demonstration. New cell assemblies were proposed and tested at this scale.
The degradation under high dynamic conditions was assessed by Accelerated Stress Test protocols (ASTs), mimicking the operation of an electrolyser in grid services provision.
All membranes/electrodes were analysed after the test campaigns and no significant changes in their structure or their stability were appreciated.

A C&CS able to simulate the reception of requests from grid operators to provide grid services was developed and the interruptibility grid service of the Spanish TSO (REE) was implemented.
A computer model able of simulating partial load operation and BoP's response was developed. A good performance of the designed BOP was achieved, including standardized power profiles defined in QualyGrids project (FCH-JU H2020).
The system for a MW HP AWE was optimized to achieve CAPEX reduction.

The developed C&CS and stacks with the new technical developments were tested at market size under a broad option of grid services conditions, including some defined in QualyGridS.
Promising results in terms of gas purities, dynamics and operation profile range were obtained.

Dissemination and exploitation plan was assessed.
Countries that show large amount of potential industry customers, especially within ammonia production and crude refining industry, are most promising.
Grid services revenues might be an add-value for the overall business case profitability.
3 exploitation meetings were organized and IPR strategy defined.
3 public workshops were organized.
3 scientific papers and 3 proceedings were published and at least 3 more scientific publications are under progress.
More than 5 press releases were launched and 35 talks and 2 posters in more than 20 conferences/workshops presented.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The expected potential impact of the results are focused on satisfying the potential needs of new markets and business models while complying with the existent requirements for connection to grid and provision of balancing or grid services.
Market and business model results might pave the way towards a set of recommendations for policy makers and regulators. The project shows that with its improvements in terms of dynamic electrolyser performance, new and potentially profitable BM are available to investors and operators of AWE in future.
Only high ramping and hot start capability of electrolyser enable a flexible electrolyser operation at spot markets and control reserve markets for electricity.
The project results also emphasize the importance of appropriate H2 target sectors for early applications requiring high H2 prices as can be expected within mobility sector.
In terms of regulation, the project showed that potential exemptions from end-user prices for electricity such as RES surcharges or network charges can be significant for profitable electrolyser integration into power systems.
ELYNTEGRATION results and improvements, both in materials and in cell, balance of plant design and C&CS will increase the competitiveness of Multi Megawatt production with a single stack. AST protocols developed have contributed to assess long-term degradation during high dynamic loads.
Some of the materials developed in the project could be upscaled and manufactured to match the market requirements. It would help to increase the purchase opportunities of some key components, improving the overall procurement and total cost.

These improvements are aligned with the specific objectives of the Multi Annual Work plan (MAWP 2014-2020) for electrolysers producing H2 from renewable electricity for energy storage and grid balancing.

The results on dynamic testing and the relation to the C&CS developed by Inycom, the concept developed in ELYntegration to allow connectivity with grid operators is the basis to add features based on data analytics.
The most promising markets would be those with a very low electricity price which could be linked to the high penetration of RES. Therefore, the results obtained could pave the way to the deployment of RES in the electricity mix in Europe.

Example of grid services provision (1)

Industrial scale test bench at FHa

Net margins for a 10 MW electrolyser

Leaching device (a, b) and furnace for electrodes (a,c) micropilot and (b,d) pilot scale electrode

Performance of advanced new electrodes compared to commercial

Example of grid services provision (2)

Example of high dynamic profile

Test bench (pilot scale) at FHa

Accelerated stress test protocol applied. Stack performance over the time.

Cross-section (lilght microscopy) of a promising electrode after the tests at IHT

Stack efficiency (77-88% HHV)

Methodology overview, evaluation of business models