In Oosterwolde (Friesland), network firm Alliander and renewable energy developer GroenLeven have opened the country’s first household hydrogen manufacturing close to a solar park.
Solar panels create power, which is transformed to hydrogen at this site. Alliander and GroenLeven will look at how hydrogen might help in places where the power grid’s capacity is insufficient to return huge amounts of solar energy generated on a large scale.
The Netherlands is making the transition to a more environmentally friendly energy supply.
The Climate Agreement stipulates that by 2030, large-scale onshore wind and solar energy will create at least 35 terawatt-hours of sustainable power. As a result, the number of windmills and solar parks is fast increasing. Regrettably, not all sustainably generated electricity can be put back into the power grid. The huge increase ensures that the grid’s full capacity is attained in an increasing number of locations. The electrical grid must be at least doubled to tackle this problem. This necessitates significant financial commitments. Simultaneously, there is potential to improve grid efficiency. For example, the produced power may be used to produce hydrogen.
On the electrical grid, there is less traffic congestion
Alliander and GroenLeven will collaborate in Oosterwolde to look into how hydrogen may help the electrical system run more efficiently. Alliander is investigating whether energy grid congestion can be alleviated or avoided, as well as if hydrogen can be used to prevent system growth. Alliander has developed a hydrogen station close to a GroenLeven solar park for the pilot. GroenLeven will use the power generated by its solar park to transform water into hydrogen with this system. The local taxi firm Kort and fuel provider OrangeGas from Heerenveen then acquires this 100 percent green hydrogen. A total of 100,000 kilos of hydrogen is projected to be generated per year.
“As a grid operator, we are responsible for conveying varied energy flows across an energy system that is prone to immense change,” says Daan Schut, Alliander’s CTO. It is our societal responsibility to ensure that the energy grid is dependable, safe, and accessible to all. It is critical that we make the best use of the available space on the internet in order to accomplish this correctly. That we obtain more capacity out of our current grid and make better use of the capacity we already have. We wish to cut social costs to a bare minimum. The pilot we’re running with GroenLeven will allow us to see if hydrogen can help us make our electrical systems more efficient. The solar park’s power may be used for a variety of purposes.
Hydrogen as a renewable source of power
In addition to examining how the hydrogen installation may move in response to the solar park’s constantly changing generation, GroenLeven is looking into how green hydrogen can be utilized as a sustainable energy source that can be stored.
“To make the energy transition a success, collaboration is critical,” says Peter Paul Weeda, co-CEO of GroenLeven. “At this time, grid congestion is causing delays, but we need to move faster, especially in light of the current IPCC report.” We put our shoulders to the wheel with network operators to come up with answers. This hydrogen pilot, which we’re doing with Alliander, is an excellent illustration of this and fits in well with our approach. We will focus more on wide renewable energy solutions and energy landscapes as GroenLeven. Whereas solar energy was previously the focus, we are now broadening this to include a combination of wind energy, energy storage, and hence hydrogen. As a result, we make a significant contribution to the Netherlands’ energy transition and a cleaner, more sustainable future.
Sinne hydrogen symposium
The SinneWetterstof symposium will kick off the launch of the hydrogen installation in Oosterwolde. At this symposium, the regional potential of hydrogen will be explored. Various people participating in the energy transition in Friesland will debate this with each other under the supervision of Remco de Boer, an energy transition researcher, and consultant. During the symposium, the hydrogen installation will be formally inaugurated. In June, hydrogen is planned to flow through the installation’s pipelines for the first time.
