The energy cycle (via Vattenfall)
In a time when the European Union is in financial turmoil, German, French and Swedish companies are showing that there is the undeniable potential of renewable energies. Creating a small “ecosystem” of energies, each supporting or complementing the other is a clear example of what scientists and engineers are capable of when given the right resources and are not doubted by investors or restricted by money.
While there are many ways of generating renewably energy, engineers have had trouble finding ways to store excess energy. This has always been a drawback to obvious renewable-energy solutions like wind energy. However, a new innovative power plant in Germany has found a solution.
Many European companies, including Vattenfall, Siemens, Enertrag along with research institutions and environmental organizations are behind a project that has been operating since October in Prenzlau Germany, 75 miles north of Berlin. Their project is in the form of a Hybrid power plant that solves the storage problem by converting electrical energy generated by with wind turbine, into hydrogen.
A hybrid power plant is the first of its kind in Europe, consisting of three wind turbines, a biogas unit, an electrolysis unit and two combined power plants that make use of waste heat.
The turbines are capable of delivering 2 MW of electricity. This electricity is then converted into storable hydrogen by the electrolysis, a process that been theorized to be 80%-94% efficient. The hydrogen can be distributed via pipeline and used like natural gas for heat; it can fuel hydrogen vehicles, and it can also co-fire the power plant along with the biogas to produce more electricity exactly when it is needed.
Vattenfall Innovation head Oliver Weinmann stated their mission best, "There is currently no system designed to compensate for the differences between supply and demand within the sector of renewable energy... But this project allows us to find a balance in the system and it’s also good business.”
Eavesdropper
