Periodic Reporting for period 5 - Haeolus (Hydrogen-Aeolic Energy with Optimised eLectrolysers Upstream of Substation)
Reporting period: 2022-07-01 to 2023-12-31
Wind is a clean energy source that is becoming ever cheaper. But we cannot “switch on the wind” as we please: as more wind turbines are built, the irregularity of wind causes difficulties in the power grid. In fact, scientists have shown that when wind power is more than about 20% of the capacity of an energy system, there is no value in building more wind turbines, because the cheap generation is offset by the difficulties of storing and distributing energy.
Haeolus is about producing hydrogen directly from wind power. Hydrogen can be re-electrified later, used as fuel (land vehicles, ships, etc.), or used in the chemical industry. Our demonstration site is in Berlevåg, at the extreme north of Norway, close to the Raggovidda wind power park. In this sparsely populated region, the power grid was not built for high capacities. While Raggovidda already has a concession for 200 MW of wind turbines, only 45 MW could be built because of the export limitations. The case of Raggovidda is not unique: the best wind resources are often in sparsely populated areas with weak power grids, and often far away from mountains where energy could be stored by pumped hydro power.
Managing to exploit wind power resources in isolated areas with a weak grid will allow more renewable power generation, in spite of the weak grid these areas typically have. Haeolus has developed methods useful not just for the specific Raggovidda case (which, in the long term, is envisaged as a hydrogen production and export hub), but also for the cases of re-electrification and stabilisation of mini-grids (e.g. islands not electrically connected to the mainland).
The project's overarching objectives are:
1. Enabling more wind power in national energy systems.
2. Testing multiple use cases.
3. Deploying a state-of-the-art 2.5 MW electrolyser plant, the largest ever integrated into a wind park worldwide.
4. Operating the whole plant remotely, an important property for remote areas.
5. Raising awareness of the technology with public reports, seminars, site visits and other dissemination actions.
Haeolus is about producing hydrogen directly from wind power. Hydrogen can be re-electrified later, used as fuel (land vehicles, ships, etc.), or used in the chemical industry. Our demonstration site is in Berlevåg, at the extreme north of Norway, close to the Raggovidda wind power park. In this sparsely populated region, the power grid was not built for high capacities. While Raggovidda already has a concession for 200 MW of wind turbines, only 45 MW could be built because of the export limitations. The case of Raggovidda is not unique: the best wind resources are often in sparsely populated areas with weak power grids, and often far away from mountains where energy could be stored by pumped hydro power.
Managing to exploit wind power resources in isolated areas with a weak grid will allow more renewable power generation, in spite of the weak grid these areas typically have. Haeolus has developed methods useful not just for the specific Raggovidda case (which, in the long term, is envisaged as a hydrogen production and export hub), but also for the cases of re-electrification and stabilisation of mini-grids (e.g. islands not electrically connected to the mainland).
The project's overarching objectives are:
1. Enabling more wind power in national energy systems.
2. Testing multiple use cases.
3. Deploying a state-of-the-art 2.5 MW electrolyser plant, the largest ever integrated into a wind park worldwide.
4. Operating the whole plant remotely, an important property for remote areas.
5. Raising awareness of the technology with public reports, seminars, site visits and other dissemination actions.
The experimental hall to house the system was specially designed and built by the harbour of the village of Berlevåg, instead of the originally planned location directly in the Raggovidda wind park. This facilitates hydrogen export since Berlevåg is reachable year-round by sea and road, while Raggovidda requires snowmobiles or tracked vehicles for most of the year. To maintain the call's condition of "generation within the fence", a new power line was built to connect the electrolyser directly to the wind park.
The electrolyser system was delivered and installed in 2021, after several delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The system includes 100 kW of fuel cells (much smaller than the 2500 kW of the electrolyser) meant to be used to test some specific operational modes (e.g. islanded operation) and a storage tank, already installed on site, holding 150 kg of hydrogen at 30 bar. The electrolyser is remotely controllable through a secure connection, and several tests were run from operators in Italy and Belgium.
An analysis of the operational conditions placed the cost for hydrogen production from Raggovidda between 4 and 6 €/kg, a competitive level. The analysis was extended to other wind farms (Smøla in Norway and Moncayuelo in Spain), showing that it is important to maintain a high utilisation of electrolysers in operation by combining several operation strategies (fuel production, congestion management, grid services, etc.). The impact of hydrogen-wind plants on energy systems was evaluated with an advanced scenario model, projected until 2050; a general result is that hydrogen storage for re-electrification in fuel cells is normally not economically advantageous, whereas production of hydrogen for sale as fuel is more attractive.
The project developed a dynamic model of plant operation and synthesised control strategies for all expected modes of operation and their relative testing protocols. The control strategies are based on advanced model predictive controllers that continuously re-optimise operation based on the best available data available at the moment; these were tested by simulations fed with real-life data.
In order to quantify the value of electrolysers to support the introduction of renewables into the grid, project partners published research analysing the profitability of coupling hydrogen production and grid reserves; the results are very dependent on the contextual energy system, and are best for countries with limited flexible energy sources such as hydro or gas turbines.
Haeolus generated a lot of interest for hydrogen in Varanger and the rest of Finnmark, and several workshops were arranged by regional authorities in Vadsø to spur adoption of hydrogen among a very keen business community. Multiple initiatives for local hydrogen usage have been started, with the most promising being the upgrade of a nearby biogas plant, ammonia production, fuel in fishing boats and passenger ferries.
The electrolyser system was delivered and installed in 2021, after several delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The system includes 100 kW of fuel cells (much smaller than the 2500 kW of the electrolyser) meant to be used to test some specific operational modes (e.g. islanded operation) and a storage tank, already installed on site, holding 150 kg of hydrogen at 30 bar. The electrolyser is remotely controllable through a secure connection, and several tests were run from operators in Italy and Belgium.
An analysis of the operational conditions placed the cost for hydrogen production from Raggovidda between 4 and 6 €/kg, a competitive level. The analysis was extended to other wind farms (Smøla in Norway and Moncayuelo in Spain), showing that it is important to maintain a high utilisation of electrolysers in operation by combining several operation strategies (fuel production, congestion management, grid services, etc.). The impact of hydrogen-wind plants on energy systems was evaluated with an advanced scenario model, projected until 2050; a general result is that hydrogen storage for re-electrification in fuel cells is normally not economically advantageous, whereas production of hydrogen for sale as fuel is more attractive.
The project developed a dynamic model of plant operation and synthesised control strategies for all expected modes of operation and their relative testing protocols. The control strategies are based on advanced model predictive controllers that continuously re-optimise operation based on the best available data available at the moment; these were tested by simulations fed with real-life data.
In order to quantify the value of electrolysers to support the introduction of renewables into the grid, project partners published research analysing the profitability of coupling hydrogen production and grid reserves; the results are very dependent on the contextual energy system, and are best for countries with limited flexible energy sources such as hydro or gas turbines.
Haeolus generated a lot of interest for hydrogen in Varanger and the rest of Finnmark, and several workshops were arranged by regional authorities in Vadsø to spur adoption of hydrogen among a very keen business community. Multiple initiatives for local hydrogen usage have been started, with the most promising being the upgrade of a nearby biogas plant, ammonia production, fuel in fishing boats and passenger ferries.
The first demonstration activities started in 2021, and the ability to run the plant across the continent was demonstrated. The local municipalities and county council have shown great interest since project start, and have now proposed to set up a hydrogen distribution network across the Varanger region based around Haeolus. Many other applications have been identified, such as large-scale ammonia production, biogas upgrading to biomethane, fuel for fishing boats and long-range trucks.
Project partner Varanger Kraft, owner of the wind park and the grid, has plans to deploy 100 MW of electrolysers and start production of green ammonia as an energy carrier in the region. They furthermore have agreed with supplier Hydrogenics to take over the ownership of the electrolyser plant and have invested significant funds in the realisation of a hydrogen refuelling station, the world's northernmost, scheduled to go online mid-2024.
The uptake of wind power has long been limited by its intermittent nature. By storing energy as hydrogen, we can build a buffer to compensate for this intermittency, and allow more clean, renewable energy to be used in our grids. Hydrogen production by electrolysis can play a significant role in stabilising grids, as they provide a large consumer that can be quickly ramped up or down as the grid operators require. This makes electrical grids more reliable and robust.
Such grid services will actually be a significant extra income for hydrogen production plants, and have been estimated in several case studies to be the critical factor that will make them profitable. As the share of intermittent renewables in the grid increases, the price that grid operators will be willing to pay for such reserves will also increase correspondingly. This is especially relevant for countries such as Germany, who are moving away from coal towards solar and wind, but have little or no potential for traditional energy storage technologies such as pumped hydro.
Project partner Varanger Kraft, owner of the wind park and the grid, has plans to deploy 100 MW of electrolysers and start production of green ammonia as an energy carrier in the region. They furthermore have agreed with supplier Hydrogenics to take over the ownership of the electrolyser plant and have invested significant funds in the realisation of a hydrogen refuelling station, the world's northernmost, scheduled to go online mid-2024.
The uptake of wind power has long been limited by its intermittent nature. By storing energy as hydrogen, we can build a buffer to compensate for this intermittency, and allow more clean, renewable energy to be used in our grids. Hydrogen production by electrolysis can play a significant role in stabilising grids, as they provide a large consumer that can be quickly ramped up or down as the grid operators require. This makes electrical grids more reliable and robust.
Such grid services will actually be a significant extra income for hydrogen production plants, and have been estimated in several case studies to be the critical factor that will make them profitable. As the share of intermittent renewables in the grid increases, the price that grid operators will be willing to pay for such reserves will also increase correspondingly. This is especially relevant for countries such as Germany, who are moving away from coal towards solar and wind, but have little or no potential for traditional energy storage technologies such as pumped hydro.