Power-to-X

Green hydrogen demand and electrification could drive a solar boom in the nation, according to the chief executive of a developer sitting on 4 GWp of photovoltaic projects.

Swedish energy company Vattenfall is planning to build a 150 MW electric boiler near Amsterdam under the Netherlands’ SDE+ program for large scale renewables. The facility is planned to operate when a lot of electricity from wind and sun is available and to supply hot water to households in the city and its surrounding areas.

The Danish Energy Agency has granted permission, to two power-to-X specialists, for the development of innovative projects without having to comply with the country’s energy legislation. This exemption is part of an upcoming pilot scheme to support new clean energy technologies, including green hydrogen.

The so-called powerfuels are primarily required for sectors that are difficult to electrify, such as aviation and shipping, as well as for the processing of raw materials. This is shown by a new study by Finland’s LUT University and the German Energy Agency.

According to a research team from Oxford University, solar and wind may be applied in power-to-methanol projects only if the methanol industry will switch from conventional chemical processes, that require a constant energy supply, to more flexible processes that need demand-side management.

Scientists in Switzerland say power-to-hydrogen is particularly promising for coupling electricity and heating and offsetting seasonal variation in renewables generation in sector-coupled energy networks. Their analysis indicated the technology may be especially useful in areas with a high ratio of seasonal thermal-to-electric demand.

Hydrogen-fueled aviation has a realistic chance of helping the sector achieve climate goals, according to a European Union-commissioned study.

An Ieefa report has suggested the cost of generating electricity from solar will be near zero in the world’s sunniest regions by 2030-40 – despite what the naysayers at the International Energy Agency might think.

A €15.2 million power-to-X-to-power hydrogen storage facility is being planned in Saillat-sur-Vienne, in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The project partners want to use renewable energy from the grid and water to produce and store electrolyzed hydrogen. It would then be mixed with natural gas to power an upgraded, 12 MW Siemens SGT-400 industrial gas turbine which previously generated steam for local manufacturing and would be able to return power to the grid to meet demand.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency says that on-site solar electrolysis is not just the most cost-effective way of developing a domestic and export hydrogen economy, but perhaps the only way.