NEWS

8Fuel Cells Bulletin October 2013

the local electric grid, and can produce 12 m3/h of hydrogen. This is stored in McPhy’s HDS 100 system, which is based on its low-pressure, high-density magnesium hydride technology. This first model, with a storage capacity of 100 kg (for an energy content of 3.3 MWh), is the first in a commercial range for up to 500 kg of stored hydrogen (16.5 MWh).

This technology enables traditional hydrogen logistics (high-pressure gas delivery) to be replaced with production located at the point-of-use and aligned with demand. The E12 million (US$16 million) PUSHY project, funded by Bpifrance (formerly OSEO/ISI), was developed through an industrial consortium led by McPhy Energy, with the CEA Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission and the ‘green’ hydrogen producer WH2. Pascal Mauberger, CEO of McPhy Energy, says that the next PUSHY deliverable will be a demonstration next year of hydrogen production using hydroelectric energy.

In other news, McPhy Energy Deutschland GmbH has taken over electrolyser development and manufacturing, as well as the employees, of Enertrag HyTec GmbH in Germany. McPhy and Enertrag AG will continue to jointly develop economic wind-hydrogen solutions.

The large-scale electrolysers from HyTec, now known as McPhy Deutschland, range in power from 500 kW to multi-MW. They are used, for example, in the Prenzlau Hybrid Power Plant built by Enertrag, showing that demand-driven energy supply from renewable resources is possible [FCB, December 2012, p9, and see the News Feature in May 2012, p14].

McPhy Energy’s core expertise is its innovative technology for solid-state hydrogen storage based on magnesium hydrides. Earlier this year the company acquired another electrolyser producer, PIEL in Italy, which specialises in smaller electrolysis systems up to 500 kW [FCB, February 2013, p9].

McPhy Energy, La Motte-Fanjas, France. Tel: +33 4 7571 1505, www.mcphy.com

PUSHY project: http://tinyurl.com/mcphy-pushy

Enertrag, Hybrid Power Plant: http://tinyurl.com/enertrag-hybrid

German wind site with 1 MW Hydrogenics P2G energy storage

A 140 MW wind farm in northeastern Germany has been put into

operation with a 1 MW electrolysis

system from Hydrogenics. The wind farm, in the municipality of Grapzow in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state, is connected via a new substation to the local high-voltage grid.

Hydrogenics has installed the 1 MW Power-to-Gas (P2G) system inside a newly constructed building. The unit produces 210 Nm3/h of hydrogen. The plant’s owners have the option to use the hydrogen in an internal combustion engine to produce electricity, or inject it directly into the local natural gas grid, depending on operational needs. The hydrogen compression and storage system stores up to 27 MWh of energy, and dramatically increases the overall efficiency of the wind park by tapping into wind energy which otherwise would be wasted.

The wind farm, with 28 wind turbines, can provide electricity for 125 000 households, some 15% of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern region. The plant is operated by the engineering group RH2-Werder/Kessin/Altentreptow (RH2-WKA). The storage project is funded by the German federal government through the National Innovation Programme for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology, coordinated by NOW GmbH.

E.ON recently inaugurated its first Power-to-Gas unit in Falkenhagen in eastern Germany, injecting hydrogen into the regional natural gas transmission system on an industrial scale [FCB, September 2013, p9]. That P2G unit also uses wind power to run electrolysis equipment supplied by Hydrogenics, to produce hydrogen from water for injection into the gas grid.

Hydrogenics Corporation, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Tel: +1 905 361 3660, www.hydrogenics.com

Hydrogenics Europe – Electrolysers, Oevel, Belgium. Tel: +32 14 462110.

RH2-WKA project: www.rh2-wka.de [in German]

NOW GmbH: www.now-gmbh.de

ITM Power delivers Power-to-Gas unit to Thüga Frankfurt plant

UK-based ITM Power has delivered its first Power-to-Gas (P2G) plant

to the Thüga Group in Frankfurt, Germany, on time and to budget [FCB, August 2013, p7].

The plant is now deployed at the Mainova AG site in Schielestrasse, Frankfurt am Main, where the compliant gas mixing and grid injection infrastructure is already in place. The plant will undergo an extensive acceptance, compliance and commissioning phase before

going live in December and the plant first injects hydrogen into the German gas grid.

The installation also includes a monitoring facility and visitor’s reception, so that members of the Thüga Group can examine the performance of the plant. The operational data will be shared by the whole Thüga Group, the largest network of energy companies in Germany with around 100 municipal utility members.

The Thüga plant is the first to be delivered of £4.5 million (US$7.2 million) worth of equipment being manufactured at ITM Power, funded by commercial sales and grant-funded collaborative projects. The Thüga delivery marks a significant moment for ITM Power, which has an order book of £1.7 million ($2.7 million) and a rapidly developing pipeline of revenue [see the ITM Power feature in FCB, January 2012].

‘Power-to-Gas technology is key to the success of the Energiewende [energy transition], and the Thüga Group have a clear understanding of this technology and where it fits for the energy network of the future,’ says Phil Doran, managing director of ITM Power GmbH, its German subsidiary [FCB, March 2011, p8].

ITM Power, Sheffield, UK. Tel: +44 114 244 5111, www.itm-power.com

Thüga Group: www.thuega.de [in German]

GM and US Army TARDEC to expand fuel cell testing

In the US, General Motors and the US Army Tank Automotive

Research, Development & Engineering Center (TARDEC) are expanding their collaboration in the development of hydrogen fuel cell technology through a new Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA). GM and TARDEC will jointly test new hydrogen fuel cell-related materials and designs to evaluate their performance and durability, before assembling them into full-scale fuel cell propulsion systems.

This collaborative effort will enable GM and TARDEC to jointly develop technology that meets both partners’ requirements, accomplishing more tangible results than either could achieve on its own. The project is expected to continue for up to five years.

This is the second fuel cell-related announcement from GM this year. In July,

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