Proton OnSite delivers electrolyzer for first power-to-gas project in the US
13 April 2015
Proton OnSite, the world leader in Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyzer technology, will participate in the first power to gas (P2G) project in the United States, announced earlier by Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas).
This will be the first demonstration of this energy storage system concept in the US, and will provide data on the dynamics of electrolyzers in a renewable energy system.
The project will involve testing two Proton electrolyzers, nominally rated for 7 kW and 60 kW of input power respectively, as a means of generating hydrogen from a local photovoltaic source. The produced hydrogen will then be injected into a simulated natural gas pipeline system at the National Fuel Cell Research Center. Storing renewable electricity as hydrogen or in the gas network for energy utilization later in the day, week, or month allows for minimizing the demand ramp in the evening as well.
To address large scale energy storage requirements, Proton has launched a new commercial megawatt (MW) scale electrolyzer platform, the M Series. At the 2 MW level, the new M Series provides a 13x increase in hydrogen production compared to other commercial PEM systems, Proton says. In combination with greater production capacity, the M Series reduces the capital cost per kilogram of producing hydrogen by over 50%.
Almost unlimited size P2G that can produce H2 at half price is an interesting interim step.
Using the NG distribution network to temporary store excess H2 is already being used in Germany. Alternatively, H2 could be stored for use in FCEVs an fixed e-generators.
H2 can always be extracted from H2 rich NG on an as required basis.
Posted by: HarveyD | 13 April 2015 at 07:44 AM