According to the ADEME (France's agency for environment and energy management), “Power to X” (or “P2X”) is the act of converting electricity into another energy vector. For the HYFLEXPOWER project, the “X” vector is hydrogen.
The purpose of this project is to prove that hydrogen can be produced and stored from renewable electricity and then added with up to 100% to the natural gas currently used with combined heat and power plants. For this, an existing Siemens SGT-400 industrial gas turbine will be upgraded to convert stored hydrogen into electricity and thermal energy..
Within HYFLEXPOWER it will be demonstrated that renewable hydrogen can serve as a flexible means of storing energy which can then be used to power a high -power industrial turbine.
Storing fluctuating renewable energy is one of the major challenges of the energy transition. In this context, the stakeholders involved in the HYFLEXPOWER project are developing new technologies which can be used across the whole power-to-X-to-power cycle. The installed demonstrator will be used to store excess renewable electricity in the form of green hydrogen. During periods of high demand this stored green hydrogen will then be used to generate electrical energy to be fed into the grid.
ENGIE Solutions has been entrusted with producing energy at the Smurfit Kappa site in Saillat- sur-Vienne, France. At the site, ENGIE Solutions operates a 12 MWe combined heat and power facility which produces steam for the manufacturing company's requirements. The project will develop and demonstrate an advanced plant concept which will contribute to modernizing and improving the factory's existing power plant. During two demonstration campaigns, the facility will be powered by a mix of natural gas and hydrogen, ultimately aiming up to 100 percent hydrogen operation. In this regard, the overall goal of the HYFLEXPOWER project is to test an entirely green hydrogen-based power supply for a completely carbon-free energy mix, meeting or even operating significantly below EU emission limits.
"With the HYFLEXPOWER project, ENGIE Solutions is once again demonstrating its intent to support manufacturers and regions as they seek to optimize and green their energy use. Developing renewable hydrogen for industrial purposes is a perfect example. This demonstrator is the future,”says Pierre Hardouin, CEO of ENGIE Solutions for Industries.
An exclusively European technology
The consortium selected following the call for proposals is made up exclusively of European companies and bodies. Each stakeholder's role is defined as follows:
- ENGIE Solutions will build the hydrogen production and storage chain facility, up to the natural gas/hydrogen mix prior to injection into the turbine
- Siemens Energy will supply the electrolyser for hydrogen production and develop the hydrogen gas turbine
- Centrax will upgrade the package for H2 operation and install the new turbine
- German Aerospace Centre (DLR) together with the University College London, University of Duisburg-Essen and Lund University will support hydrogen turbine technology development
- National Technical University of Athens will perform economic, environmental and social assessments of the concept
- Arttic will support the operational project management and the project’s communication activities.
The project's total budget is close to €15.2 million, of which €10.5 million will be contributed entirely by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 program.
Centrax sees green hydrogen as an important part of the path to a decarbonized energy system and welcomes the considerable investment being made by the Horizon 2020 program to assist the development of Hydrogen compatible combustion systems.
“Our goal is for our gas turbine combined heat and power systems to be ‘Hydrogen Ready’ to provide future proof power generation solutions for our customers” says Harry Trump, director of Business Development for Centrax Ltd.
Officially launched on May 1, 2020, the project will last four years and will be split into several phases:
- May 2020: Contract finalization and start of engineering development
- 2021: Installation of the hydrogen production, storage, and supply facility at pilot demonstration site
- 2022: Installation of the gas turbine for natural gas/hydrogen mixtures and initial demonstration of advanced pilot plant concept
- 2023: Pilot demonstration with up to 100 percent hydrogen for carbon-free energy production from stored excess renewable energy
