Proudly South African Hydrogen Breakthrough With Shell’s Backing
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly.
This is the introductory paragraph.
At this time of huge coronavirus uncertainty, the chests of a group of engineers here must surely be bulging with pride following their major Proudly South African world breakthrough that could speed up the global deployment of hydrogen as a competitive universal and environment-friendly energy carrier.
I think it got a bit jumbled in the typing.
Reading the article it does seem that various developments are coming together in South Africa.
- A much simple electrolyser to produce hydrogen.
- South Africa’s platinum for catalysts.
- Large amounts of renewable energy.
The aim is to produce hydrogen at a comparable price with petrol.
This paragraph stands out.
South Africa has the combined solar and wind potential to produce competitive hydrogen, which can meet the world’s new environmental requirements.
The article talks about exporting hydrogen to Japan.
Conclusion
South Africa is a country that needs all the good news it can get.
This looks like it could be some of the best.
But how many other hot countries can take advantage of what looks like a breakthrough in the electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen for a fuel?
World’s Largest Green Hydrogen Plant Begins Operation In Austria
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Recharge.
This is the subtitle, which says it all.
The 6MW facility in Linz, running Siemens electrolysers, will provide clean H2 for steel production.
Steel-making is a large source of carbon-dioxide emissions and this is said about how hydrogen can be used in the process.
In light of global climate targets, Voestalpine is currently investigating the practicality of a hybrid technology to bridge between the existing coke/coal-based blast furnace route and electric arc furnaces powered with green electricity partly generated using green hydrogen,” says Voestalpine. “If economically feasible, from today’s perspective this option would reduce the group’s CO2 emissions by around a third sometime between 2030 and 2035.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see steel-makers beat that target, especially as renewable energy production and hydrogen electrolyser capacity increases.
The article also details two other large green hydrogen production electrolysers.
A 10MW PEM electrolysis plant, REFHYNE, is under construction at Shell’s Rheinland refinery in Wesseling, Germany, and is due to be completed in the second half of 2020, while a 30MW pilot — part of a 700MW project — is expected to be up and running in northwest Germany by 2025.
There’s more about REFHYNE on their web site.
This is the introduction on the web site.
The REFHYNE project is at the forefront of the effort to supply Clean Refinery Hydrogen for Europe. The project is funded by the European Commission’s Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) and will install and operate the world’s largest hydrogen electrolyser the Shell Rhineland Refinery in Wesseling, Germany.
The plant will be operated by Shell and manufactured by ITM Power. The electrolyser has a peak capacity of 10 MW (megawatts) and will be able to produce approximately 1,300 tonnes of hydrogen per year. This decarbonised hydrogen can be fully integrated into refinery processes including the desulphurisation of conventional fuels
Hydrogen is coming.
It could be coming in a big way to the UK, as we have the capability to generate gigawatts of off-shore wind power and ITM Power have the world’s largest PEM electrolyser factory in Rotherham.
Delivering Hydrogen For Vehicles
In Friday’s copy of The Times, there is an article entitled Hydrogen Lifts Off: An Old Fuel Showing New Promise.
The article talks about Shell’s plans to create a network of filling stations for hydrogen-powered vehicles.
This is a paragraph.
A potential alternative is electrolysis, the method that Shell’s partner ITM Power is using to produce hydrogen at the Gatwick site. There, in a yard behind the refuelling pump, temporary buildings house equipment that purify tap water and convert AC electricity from the grid to DC current. This is used to split the water through electrolysis into hydrogen and harmless waste oxygen, which is vented out.
Note.
- Electrolysis is an alternative to the use of steam reforming of methane, which produces a lot of carbon dioxide.
- If the electricity is from renewables like solar, wind or tidal, then the hydrogen produced can be considered green.
- They is also a quote from Shell, which says that as renewable power gets cheaper and electrolysis more efficient, this will be the standard way to produce hydrogen.
It does seem to me that we could see hydrogen stations all over the place, as each is stand-alone and only needs tap water, an electricity feed and customers.
Who is iTM Power?
iTM Power are a company based in Sheffield.
Read more about them on their Wikipedia entry or their web site.
They claim to have the world’s largest PEM electrolyser factory.
They are also developing a network of hydrogen filling stations.
Currently opened include.
- Beaconsfield Services Hydrogen Station
- Gatwick Refuelling Station
- Rainham Solar Hydrogen Station, Essex
- Rotherham Wind Hydrogen Station
- Shell Cobham Services Hydrogen Station
- Swindon Hydrogen Station
- Teddington Hydrogen Station
And these are currently planned.
- Birmingham Bus
- Birmingham Passenger Vehicle
- Pau Bus, France
Note.
- Some as you can see are to support hydrogen buses.
- Some are powered directly by renewable electricity.
- Birmingham’s two stations are co-located.
- Two; Beaconsfield and Cobham are at motorway service areas.
- Pau is probably to support the hydrogen-powered busway that is being created in the town. There is more on that in this article on rfi, which is entitled Amid Transport Chaos, France Rolls Out World-First Hydrogen Bus Fleet.
It’s looks to me that iTM are working to a sensible plan.
- They can supply a system for a range of purposes.
- They can be placed on fairly small sites.
- They don’t need connection to a hydrogen grid.
- Is it sensible to put one in for a fleet of buses, trucks or vans first?
- Systems for buses and other vehicles can be co-located.
I can see in a few years, that everyone will be within sensible reach of a hydrogen filling station.
As the range of a hydrogen-powered car is in the hundreds of miles. it looks to me that the range anxiety of battery vehicles will be overcome.
I don’t drive or have a car, but if I needed one, I’d buy hydrogen over battery, when there was a filling station in my part of London.
The Anonymous Widower 