Hydrogen producer HYGRO, together with TNO, has been awarded a subsidy of 11.8 million euros to help get the chain from sustainable hydrogen production to sales in road transport up and running.
HYGRO was the first company in the world to launch the concept of the 'hydrogen mill'; a windmill with integrated electrolysis to produce hydrogen directly at the mill. With hydrogen as the primary energy carrier, the design of a wind turbine and that of wind farms will eventually change. Electrolysis makes wind energy more (cost)efficient than with electricity.
Jan Willem Langeraar, co-founder of HYGRO: “This project will not only demonstrate the technical possibilities for an efficient chain and affordable filling stations, but above all show that sustainable hydrogen can become competitive with diesel under the current rules. It is important that the government continues to provide sufficient incentives for parties that want to purchase trucks on hydrogen. For example, through the AanZET subsidy. Scaling up will enable further cost reductions, which will ultimately make the transition automatic.”
The development of integrated hydrogen production at wind turbines and hydrogen deliveries to fuel stations during this project will provide sufficient hydrogen in the North Holland region to power 50 to 80 hydrogen electric trucks on green hydrogen. This is equivalent to 2,500 to 5,000 hydrogen electric passenger cars driving 20,000 kilometers per year and a comparable number of hydrogen electric generators for construction sites. The result of this project is a reduction of the costs in the hydrogen chain and a faster growth of the use of hydrogen in mobility.
By simultaneously scaling up hydrogen production and distribution via filling stations, with the use of hydrogen by hydrogen electric trucks, passenger cars and construction machines such as generators, the cost price of both vehicles and hydrogen delivery will quickly decrease. In the coming years, the share of hydrogen mobility will increase significantly, leading to lower CO2 emissions, while at the same time preventing noise, NOx and particulate matter emissions. The project provides a glimpse into the energy infrastructure of the future.
With the award of this subsidy, the first steps are being taken towards the integration of hydrogen production with wind turbines. Various parties have committed to the project by signing a Letter of Intent (LOI). Greenchoice will ensure that green hydrogen can be produced with a lot of solar energy, even when there is no wind. In addition, the subsidy will demonstrate that affordable hydrogen filling stations can be realised through an integrated approach to production, high-pressure storage and road distribution. The first hydrogen filling station will be located at the AVIA Mobility Square of AVIA Marees in Wieringerwerf.
With funding from the Regional Deal Maritime Cluster Kop van Noord-Holland, the AVIA Mobility Square in Wieringerwerf will be connected to the hydrogen production at the wind turbine by means of a special pipeline, to be constructed with the company SoluForce and Visser & Smit Hanab. The project also provides for three satellite stations in Noord-Holland. The exact locations are still being determined together with AVIA Marees and will partly depend on the wishes of customers for hydrogen mobility. Meewind, which is a co-investor in the HYGRO turbine via its Green Fund Regionaal Duurzaam, is looking forward to this next phase of development.
TNO is responsible for validating the expected energy savings and efficiency improvements in the chain from wind to wheel. TNO analyses the efficiency improvements that HYGRO expects to achieve in electrolysis by means of 'pulsed power' and the efficiency improvements in the distribution of hydrogen by road by using the 'iBundles' developed by HYGRO. TNO will disseminate the research results and learning experience widely in the Netherlands and more broadly in Europe via organisations such as Hydrogen Europe Research.
Cluster leader Electrolysis at TNO, Lennart Van der Burg about the hydrogen windmill: “This project involves a considerable subsidy amount. It is important that the data from our research also becomes available to other organizations within the hydrogen chain. Broad knowledge sharing is absolutely essential to accelerate electrolysis development. At the moment, there is very little practical data publicly available. For example, about the performance of the electrolyser under different conditions. We have a list of more than 20 parameters that we want to monitor the electrolyser for.
