When completed, the fully integrated power-to-hydrogen-to-power gas turbine will run at a scale that has never been seen before.
The ambitious four-year program, known as “HYFLEXPOWER,” will demonstrate that not only can hydrogen be produced and stored using renewable electricity, it can also be added to existing natural gas networks to generate power. HYFLEXPOWER will offer proof that hydrogen can be used in long-term energy storage on an existing renewables-heavy grid.
Here are some more details about this ambitious project:
- Power-to-X (or P2X) technology describes the act of converting electricity into a gaseous energy carrier like hydrogen using water electrolysis.
- Compared with other chemically-driven methods of long-term energy storage technology, hydrogen storage is predicted to be the most successful as it can be produced by electrolysis of water from excess renewable energy, and is easily compressed, stored and can be re-electrified with the use of gas turbines.
- This project will be launched at a recycled paper manufacturing plant operated by Smurfit Kappa in Saillat-sur-Vienne, France, where ENGIE will operate a 12 MWe (units of electric power) heat and power facility.
- The HYFLEXPOWER project has the potential to significantly reduce costs, thanks to its full end-to-end integration of an existing renewable power plant with an electrolysis system and a high-volume hydrogen gas turbine.
