The opening of the Hysolar/Greenpoint hydrogen station fits in perfectly with the ‘Hydrogen Mobility Covenant for the Province of Utrecht’, which has now been signed by almost 100 organisations. Hysolar puts the principles of a circular economy front and centre. They believe there is an important role for green hydrogen as a sustainable energy carrier. The next step is to produce green hydrogen. That is planned for 2022. Until then, the filling station will sell hydrogen with CO2 compensation.
Pooling forces
Innovator Allied Waters and Aannemingsbedrijf Jos Scholman started using their own hydrogen-powered company cars in 2019, followed by tractors and other heavy equipment. The partners who have now joined Hysolar are a welcome addition: Van Kessel/Greenpoint with its experience with running petrol stations, and Scholt Energy given its role as an energy supplier and balancing service provider for the deployment of the electrolyser, which is expected to go into operation in 2022. The entire chain from the production to the consumption of green hydrogen is now in good hands. With their unique combination of knowledge from the transport, construction, water and energy sectors, the parties involved in the alliance aim to optimise efficiency, price and sustainability in the field of green hydrogen and transport. The four partners are all entrepreneurial and pragmatic in their approach, as demonstrated by the rapid development of this project.
Green hydrogen
In the future, the green hydrogen will be produced with electricity from the nearby solar farm, which has a capacity of 9 megawatt peak. A 2MW electrolyser produces 250 tonnes of hydrogen annually in continuous operation, enough for 1,000 passenger cars or 50 public transport buses. The green hydrogen can also be taken to other filling stations in tube trailers.
“This unique alliance underlines our ambition to manage the decentralised energy network of the future in a sustainable way. Hydrogen can play an important role here. With this project, we are leading the way in this regard, just as we did previously in the development of large-scale energy storage systems.”
Ongoing optimisation
The balance between efficiency, price and sustainability in the field of green hydrogen and transport depends on energy prices, production by the solar farm, demand for hydrogen and demand for dispatchable capacity, and local congestion in the electricity grid. Buffer capacity at the electrolyser allows the filling station to stay in operation while, at the same time, the electrolyser is used optimally on the basis of the available amount of solar energy, the current energy price and demand for dispatchable capacity. In this way, both costs and revenues are kept optimal at all times.
Flexibility
The future electrolyser will be utilised by Hysolar with support from Scholt Energy for the dispatchable capacity of the national grid operator in the Netherlands. That will help to maintain the balance of the grid. With the rise in the availability of wind and solar energy in particular, weather conditions are having an increasing impact on the energy supply. As a result, shortages or surpluses are becoming more frequent, as are limitations on the transport capacity for electricity. That means that dispatchable capacity is becoming more important. Ramping the electrolyser up and down automatically to respond to market conditions makes it possible to absorb the fluctuations in the grid. The parties are also looking at how the flexibility of the electrolyser can be used to reduce congestion on the national and local grids.
Maximum sustainability
With a view to maximising efficiency and sustainability, studies are now being conducted into whether the residual heat released during the production of hydrogen can be used locally. Hysolar, with support from Allied Waters, is now developing plans in this area with a local purchaser of the heat. This is a step towards making the system as a whole even more sustainable.
