1. Modelling of the Utsira Wind/Hydrogen Demonstration System in Norway
Arnaud Eté
EWEC Marseille

2. Plan for this Presentation
Presentation of SgurrEnergy
What is a wind/hydrogen energy system
The modelling tool
Presentation of the Utsira Project in Norway
Results of the simulations
Conclusions

3. Introducing SgurrEnergy
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International
Based in Glasgow (Head Office), Vancouver, Beijing, Pune (India), Wexford & Paris
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4. Wind/H2 System: A Balancing Mechanism
Hydrogen is an energy carrier, not an energy source!
An electrolyser, a H2 storage and a fuel cell are used to store the excess electricity generated by wind turbines and produce electricity from hydrogen when needed

5. Wind/Hydrogen Systems
Location
Project
Year
ENEA Research Centre, Italy
Prototype wind/electrolyzer testing system
2000
University of Quebec, Trois- Rivières, Canada
Renewable energy systems based on hydrogen for remote applications
2001
Utsira Island, Norway
Demonstration of autonomous wind/hydrogen systems for remote areas
2004
West Beacon Farm, Loughorough, UK
HARI – Hydrogen And Renewables Integration
Unst, Shetland Islands, UK
PURE – Promoting Unst Renewable Energy
2005
IFE, Kjeller, Norway
Development of a field-ready small-scale wind- hydrogen energy system
2006
NREL, Golden, Colorado, USA
Wind-to-hydrogen (Wind2H2) demonstration project
Pico Truncado, Argentina
Wind/hydrogen demonstration plant
2007

6. Why We Should Use Modelling
The hydrogen economy is often proposed as the means to solve both global warming and depletion of fossil fuel resources
But technology still immature and performance needs to be improved to compete with conventional systems
Computer modelling can help to optimise the system design and improve performance
Modelling tool used: TRNSYS/ TRNSED

8. The Utsira Project in Norway

9. The Utsira Project
Collaboration with the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) and StatoilHydro in Norway
Utsira is the first large-scale demonstration of a stand-alone renewable energy system where the energy balance is provided by stored hydrogen
In operation since winter 2004/2005
Significant amount of operational data over the past 3 years

10. Objectives Utsira Project:
Demonstrate how wind and hydrogen systems can provide safe and efficient power supply to communities in remote areas
This study:
Use operational data from the Utsira plant to calibrate a set of energy models suitable for simulations in TRNSYS
Evaluate the techno-economic performance of the plant
Identify improved system designs and find an optimal configuration

11. The Energy System at Utsira

12. Modelling of the System
Use of one month of operational data (March 07)
Calibration of the system components:
Load profile and wind speed data
Power curve of the wind turbine: Enercon E40
Hydrogen engine
Electrolyser

13. Electrolyzer & H2 Engine Modelling

14. Improvement of the System Design
The existing system cannot guarantee a 100% stand-alone operation for long periods of time

15. Optimisation of the Utsira System (1/4)
Optimisation based on cost calculations: lower total net present cost for the project
Component
Lifetime
(years)
Capital costs
O&M costs
(% of capital costs)
Wind turbine 20
800 €/kW
1.5
Electrolyser
2000 €/kW
2.0
Compressor 12
5000 €/kW
H2 storage
4500 €/m³
2.5
H2 engine 10
1000 €/kW
Fuel cell
2500 €/kW

16. Optimisation of the Utsira System (2/4)
Analysis using one year of operational data (Jan-Dec 05)
Optimal system at Utsira :
100 kW electrolyser
50 kW hydrogen engine
11,100 Nm³ of H2 storage (70 m³ at 200b )
For a 100% stand-alone operation, the size of the electrolyser should be doubled and the H2 tank should be almost 5 times bigger!

17. Optimisation of the Utsira System (3/4)
To obtain better performance and reduce the size of the system, the existing H2 engine is replaced by a more efficient fuel cell
Optimal system at Utsira :
48 kW electrolyser
50 kW fuel cell
4800 Nm³ of H2 storage (30 m³ at 200b )
The efficiency of the power generating system and the size of the H2 tank should be doubled compared to the existing system

18. Optimisation of the Utsira System (4/4)

19. Conclusions (1)
Techno-economic model of wind/hydrogen energy system built on the TRNSYS platform and user-friendly interface designed
Models applied to the wind/hydrogen demonstration project on the Island of Utsira in Norway
This study has shown that the system needs to be modified in order to achieve fully autonomous operation for long periods of time:
Increase the size of the hydrogen storage
Replace the hydrogen engine by a more efficient fuel cell

20. Conclusions (2)
Further technical improvements and cost reductions are necessary before wind/H2 systems can compete with existing commercial solutions, for example wind/diesel hybrid systems
Hybrid system solutions should be based on more than one energy source (e.g. wind, solar, bioenergy) to reduce the need for large and costly energy storage
When only based on wind it is particularly important to choose a location with a steady wind resource

21. Thank you arnaud.ete@sgurrenergy.com
225 Bath Street
G2 4GZ
Glasgow, UK
Tel: +44 (0)