PowerSwitch

One of the main issues working against wind and solar power for those who expect a business-as-usual future is intermittency and the timing mis-match between demand and supply. Also, we know that a significant percentage of electricity is lost (mainly through heat) in pushing those electrons down transmission lines suggesting that distributed generation is a necessity for a more efficient energy future.

Given the above, would it not make sense to have a reversible fuel cell and hydrogen tank in places where on-demand electricty is required ie. industry and most homes. In tandem with solar panels, domestic and community wind generators and the existing (though diminishing) grid supply, a fuel cell-H2 storage combination could be used to smooth out demand peaks.

We would end up with a much more flexible and dynamic system where electricity was generated and used locally with some of the excess being stored locally and some exported to the grid in times of plenty.

DamianB wrote: Given the above, would it not make sense to have a reversible fuel cell and hydrogen tank

Couple of thoughts (I have no hard data)

1) Energy losses of conversion and storage of H2
2) Cost

High?

This (very small ) thread on downsizer seems related:

http://forum.downsizer.net/viewtopic.ph ... highlight=

BTW, the 2nd poster has done some of the testing for the windsave wind turbine,


Peter.

skeptik wrote:Couple of thoughts (I have no hard data)

1) Energy losses of conversion and storage of H2
2) Cost

High?

Conversion losses - I don't know but would expect that they could be minimised with some intelligent software and sizing of the system and they might well be less than the former transmission losses.

Cost - maybe ?3-4K when in mass production?

Both drawbacks need to be weighed against convenience

Lots of technical info here on flywheels, supercapacitors, compressed air and super magnetic energy storage as well as fuel cells and pumped hydro.

Woking have used this fuel-cell principle on their leisure complex.

Woking, a community of 93,000 people, is located 25 miles southwest of London. The 200-kilowatt PC25 system will be installed at Woking Park and will provide electricity and heat for the Pool in the Park recreational center as well as electricity to light the park. In the summer, the heat will be used to meet the recreational center's air conditioning, cooling and dehumidification requirements via heat-fired absorption cooling. The PC25 produces 900,000 Btus of heat.

"The installation in Woking is yet another milestone for IFC and the PC25 power plant," said IFC President William Miller. "PC25s now provide clean, efficient and reliable energy in 17 countries on five continents, further demonstrating its capabilities and IFC's leadership in the fuel cell industry."

The PC25 is part of a larger, combined heat and power system that will include a 1.35 megawatt reciprocating engine and solar photovoltaic cells, which will be provided by other vendors.

"Installing a fuel cell is a logical part of our ongoing efforts to promote and use sustainable energy sources," said Allan Jones MBE, Energy Services Manager. "We are proud to be the first site in the United Kingdom to employ fuel cell technology in everyday use."

Jones said that Woking Borough Council is the only local authority in the U.K. to supply electricity directly to customers on private wire networks, which enable the council to make better use of green technologies such as fuel cells by maximizing the true value of green electricity rather than selling the electricity to the grid at a far lower price.

Jones said that this innovative feature also enables the council to continue to supply electricity as well as heat and cooling in island generation mode at full load in the event of a failure of the national grid, thus providing further security of supply to customers.

Jones said this is only possible on private wire networks and this project will be the first example of a fuel cell operating as part of such a system.

The council intends to make the fuel cell visible to the public and to provide information for visitors on how the power plant operates. The fuel cell system is scheduled to begin operating by year-end.

The council this year became the first local authority ever to win Britain's most coveted commercial award, the Queen's Award for Enterprise, in recognition of its groundbreaking approach to local sustainable community energy systems and the practical steps it is taking locally to tackle global warming.

A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that combines hydrogen, or hydrogen-rich fuel, and oxygen to produce electricity, heat and water. Fuel cells operate without combustion, making them almost pollution-free. While a traditional generating system produces as much as 25 pounds of pollutants to generate 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, the PC25 power plant produces less than an ounce. IFC has manufactured the PC25 power plant since 1991 and has delivered more than 220 units.

International Fuel Cells is the world leader in fuel cell production and development for commercial, transportation, residential and space applications. IFC is the sole supplier of fuel cells for U.S. manned space missions and the only company currently producing a commercially available fuel cell power plant.


http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/FuelCellTo ... re1103.pdf

"The combined wind power and hydrogen facility on Utsira has become a globally recognized landmark in the development of new energy systems based on hydrogen. By continuing this project we hope to get even more experience and vital knowledge about combining wind and hydrogen," says Ulf Hafseld, responsible for business development in Hydro's unit for new energy.

The demonstration project on the island Utsira off the coast of western Norway started operating in summer 2004 and was scheduled to run two years. Hydro and its partner Enercon have now decided to extend the project until spring 2008. There is still much valuable experience to gain, together with the need to test new components and solutions for use on future facilities. Among other plans are testing of new internally designed electrolyser technology at the facility.

?The Utsira project has provided us lots of valuable experience in an area that the entire world is interested in and where Hydro is at the forefront of development. We now want to make some adjustments and try out new technological solutions to optimize the facility,? says Ulfstad, business development manager in Hydro?s New Energy unit.

Hydro PR

The centerpiece of the Iowa Stored Energy Plant is compressed air energy storage (CAES). CAES is a technology to store energy in the form of compressed air in an underground facility for use in later generation. CAES is already in use in two other locations and is a well-known and cost-effective generation technology.

The Iowa Stored Energy Plant project proposes two innovations to the CAES concept: First, the compressed air will be stored in an underground aquifer, rather than in a cavern as in other CAES projects.

Second, wind energy will be used to compress air, in addition to the off-peak power used elsewhere.

When generation is needed, the compressed air is released to drive natural gas-fired combustion turbines. The compressed air replaces 2/3 of the natural gas normally used in a turbine.

A separate section of the underground aquifer will also be used for storing natural gas. Gas storage will allow the facility and other gas utilities to buy natural gas when prices are lower.

Preliminary cost estimates show that a configuration of 200 megawatts of CAES generation capacity with a 100 megawatt wind farm, is the most economical. Although wind energy is the lowest-cost new generation option available, it is not reliable by itself. CAES provides a battery for wind energy and makes it a dispatchable electrical resource.

While the Iowa Stored Energy Plant incorporates wind directly into its design, it will also indirectly promote the use of wind energy in the region. CAES will be operated to follow loads and fill in where other generation is unavailable or uneconomical. Wind generation output is highly variable, but CAES can fill in the gaps for wind. This could expand the role of wind in the region's generation mix.

The combination of natural gas and wind for electric generation lowers carbon emissions significantly and uses the abundant Iowa wind resource. In the future, a carbon neutral power plant, replacing natural gas with shelled corn, another important Iowa resource, can be envisioned.

Iowa Stored Energy Plant