In focus: The X factor of Power-to-X

While the world is working toward having as much renewable energy as possible, green fuels and energy storage could be what saves the day, at least for energy-intensive industries. News on hydrogen and ammonia projects, and renewable energy developments with Power-to-X components this week certainly reinforce their significance in the grand scheme of energy things.

Starting with the jaw-dropping news that the Danish government is now considering the possibility of 62 MW offshore wind turbines being available on the market in the 2030s, we saw a couple of massive plans being revealed over the past five days.

Apart from the colossal wind turbines and a scenario that the Danish North Sea Energy Island could end up having 40 GW instead of 10 GW of offshore wind capacity, the reason why the news from Denmark is important is that the government’s plan for the artificial island also incorporates the connection of technologies which can store or convert this green electricity into green fuels such as hydrogen, using Power-to-X.

The tender to build the island itself will be launched next year, while tenders for the construction of offshore wind farms will be organised at a later time, separately for each project.

Another giant project that hit our headlines came from Australia and, although not green fuel, goes on to show how players from the fossil fuel sector have more than ambitious plans that contribute to the global net-zero goals.

This week, Japan’s oil and gas producer Inpex and its joint venture partners – Woodside Energy and TotalEnergies – unveiled plans to pool resources to evaluate the potential for a large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) site for a carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) hub.

The news came after the Australian government awarded two permits for sites located off the Northern Territory and Western Australia as part of the 2021 Offshore Greenhouse Gas Storage Acreage Release: one to Woodside Energy for an area in the Browse Basin and the other one to a joint venture between Inpex, Woodside and TotalEnergies for an area in the Bonaparte Basin.

According to Inpex, this CCUS hub could allow the Northern Territory to become “a global leader in low-emissions energy exports and catalyze the growth of new sustainable industries.”

Back to Power-to-X, Invinity Energy Systems this week energised a flow battery system at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) hydrogen R&D facility on the island of Eday in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, as part of a tidal power-to-green hydrogen research project.

The 1.8MWh energy storage system, which is yet to be fully commissioned, comprises 48 Invinity VS3 battery modules, with a combined capacity equivalent to the daily energy consumption of over 210 UK households.

The batteries will be integrated with tidal generation to optimise green hydrogen production at EMEC’s hydrogen production plant. The system will ‘smooth’ the power from the tidal generation by storing energy during high power periods and releasing it during low power periods.

This will ensure EMEC’s 670 W hydrogen electrolyser has a stable, renewable power supply, allowing the continuous production of green hydrogen.

Securing a steady influx of (green) fuels through cooperation with other countries is one of the key priorities for almost every government, now more than ever.

This week, Germany and Canada entered a hydrogen alliance, with Canada to start shipping green hydrogen to Germany by 2025 as the first step in the partnership to help the latter reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.

The green hydrogen will come from a Newfoundland-based company which will use wind energy for hydrogen production.

“Green hydrogen is an important key for a climate-neutral economy. We must resolutely pursue climate change mitigation in order to secure our prosperity and freedom. This is more important and urgent than ever at this time”, said Robert Habeck, Vice-Chancellor of Germany.

“The Hydrogen Alliance between Canada and Germany is a significant milestone as we accelerate the international market rollout of green hydrogen and clear the way for new transatlantic cooperation. Specifically, we aim to build up a transatlantic supply chain for green hydrogen”.

As a result of collaboration between Germany and Canada, Canadian company EverWind Fuels and Germany’s E.ON also signed an agreement of their own. The two companies have partnered on providing green ammonia at scale to Germany, starting in 2025.

The green ammonia that E.ON will import will be produced in EverWind’s production facility in Point Tupper, Nova Scotia.

Ammonia is also at the centre of one of the latest green fuel projects announced in the Japanese shipping sector.

Namely, the country’s shipping major NYK Line has teamed up with compatriot Nihon Shipyard, ClassNK, and IHI Corporation (IHI) on a research and development project aimed at commercialising an ammonia floating storage and regasification barge (A-FSRB).

The parties will work on the R&D of the world’s first barge equipped with a floating storage and regasification facility for ammonia.

The move builds upon an agreement made in August 2020, when NYK Line, Japan Marine United Corporation (which has a 49% share of NSY), and ClassNK started joint R&D of an A-FSRB.