A consortium of ENGIE Solutions, Siemens Energy, Centrax, Arttic, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and four European universities have announced the successful completion of the first stage of the Hyflexpower project.
Located at the Smurfit Kappa Saillat Paper Mill in Saillat-sur-Vienne, France, this programme, according to Siemens Energy, has become the first industrial facility in the world to introduce an integrated hydrogen demonstrator.
The aim of the Hyflexpower project is to demonstrate that green hydrogen can serve as a flexible means of storing energy which can then be used to power an industrial turbine.
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Gaël Carayon, project director at ENGIE Solutions, said: “Ambitious projects like this one require taking partnerships to the next level and being united in a joint mission to make decarbonization a reality. Hydrogen will play a crucial role in the interaction between renewables and electricity storage and generation.”
The hydrogen is produced on site with an electrolyzer and used in a gas turbine with a mix of 30-vol. % hydrogen and 70 vol.-% natural gas for power generation.
The project marks the implementation of the world’s first industrial-scale power-to-X-to-power demonstration with an advanced turbine with high hydrogen content fuel.
In 2023, trials will continue to increase the hydrogen ratio up to 100%.
This project will allow the partners to understand the technical feasibility of using hydrogen while retaining much of the existing energy infrastructure.
The project, first announced in 2020, involves significant funding by the European Commission, with two-thirds of the €15.2 million investment coming from the EU’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. The four universities involved are NTUA Athens, Lund in Sweden, Duisburg-Essen in Germany and UCL in London.
The next trials for the Hyflexpower project are scheduled for Summer 2023.
Dr. Ertan Yilmaz, Hyflexpower global director at Siemens Energy, said: “With the Hyflexpower project we are showcasing that carbon-neutral and reliable power supply is possible – even for energy-intensive industries. Hydrogen-ready turbines will play a decisive role in climate-neutral energy, so it is very exciting to be looking forward to the next phase of testing.”
