Enertrag to invest €19 million in world's first hybrid biomass-wind-hydrogen power station
One of the world's largest wind power companies, Germany's Enertrag AG, announces [*German] it will invest €19 ($27) million in the first hybrid power station based on biomass and wind power, the excess electricity of which will be used for the production of hydrogen. The hydrogen fuel provides back-up to the system and helps meet peak demand; excess hydrogen will also be used by third parties as a clean fuel. The complex will thus be capable of supplying both heat, power, and fuel entirely from renewable sources.
Wind power has a large energy potential but its main problem is the fact that it can not supply base load and peak power. Wind power is highly intermittent with electricity output varying from hour to hour and from day to day. Storage technologies are either inefficient or costly. In practise this means that, in Germany (world leader in wind energy), the base load is provided by ordinary fossil fuel plants. Some have used this argument against 'intermittent' wind power, saying the technology actually perpetuates coal based power generation and can not be called 'clean' because its expansion has effectively meant the expansion of fossil fuel use.
However, proponents of wind energy have called this the 'base load fallacy': there are relatively simple techniques to replace coal with other primary energy sources that can guarantee the baseload (earlier post). One of the most obvious solutions is to utilize renewable biomass instead. Biomass is stored solar energy. It can be physically transported, traded, stored and used whenever power or heat is required. The resource can easily cover both base and peak loads. Coupling renewables to each other in principle makes for robust energy systems. This is exactly what Energtrag will be demonstrating.
Near Prenzlau, capital city of the district of Uckermark in the state of Brandenburg, Energtrag will build a high-tech power complex that will supply both heat, power and hydrogen fuel in a variable way. The plant, which will integrate an existing wind farm and biomass plant, will have a combined capacity of 120 MW. The 500 kilowatt hydrogen production unit will be powered by excess electricity from the hybrid plant. Industrial-scale hydrogen production will commence in early 2008.
According to a study [*.pdf] on hybrid power generation by Enertrag, wind power produces 75% of its electricity in a time-frame that covers only 25% of total operational time. This means electricity generated from wind power is highly variable at several different timescales: from hour to hour, daily, and seasonally (map, click to enlarge, shows current output of Enertrag wind farms near Prenzlau - data change continuously). But it also means that - with biomass providing a robust base load - a lot of excess power becomes available that can be utilized for the production of storable hydrogen.
The integration of the hybrid renewable energy complex and the supply of different services - heat, electricity, back-up power, and hydrogen fuel - is based on an innovative data- and control management system. The supply of each product can thus be optimised according to the plant's own needs and depending on external demand. This allows for a highly efficient system:
energy :: sustainability :: biofuels :: bioenergy :: renewables :: wind :: biomass :: hyrdogen :: hybrid ::
The hybrid power plant's outline was presented at the 4th Prenzlauer Energiemesse, where, from October 19 to 20, more than forty of Germany's most innovative energy companies present their projects which they think will 'power the future'.
The project is being developed in partnership with experts from the University of Stralsund, the Technical University of Braunschweig and the international hydrogen community.
Enertrag already operates an experimental hybrid power plant based on solar and wind power located on the North Sea island of Pellworm. But there the efficiency of the solar plant is limited. The new biomass-wind station coupled to hydrogen production will be the first medium scale, fully operational hybrid plant.
Enertrag is a power company focused on the production of electricity and heat generated entirely from renewable sources, without dependence on fossil fuels. It is one of the world's largest wind power companies, with over 380 wind parks concentrated in Europe producing over a billion kilowatthours of electricity per year. Its portfolio supplies energy that can cover the needs of around one million people. Enertrag employs 230 people. The company's revenues grow at a yearly rate of around 20 percent.
Map courtesy of Enertrag AG.
References:
Enertrag AG: Startschuss für das ENERTRAG-Hybrid-Kraftwerk - October 19, 2007.
Enertrag: Energieversorgung der Zukunft – ganz einfach? [*.pdf] - Dauerthal, - February 20, 2005.
Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg: Hybridkraftwerk in der Uckermark - October 19, 2007.
Welt Online: Kraftwerk bei Prenzlau soll Strom aus Wind und Biomasse erzeugen - October 16, 2007.
Biopact: Energy major Total will not invest in wind power - the base-load fallacy - October 15, 2007
Article continues
Wind power has a large energy potential but its main problem is the fact that it can not supply base load and peak power. Wind power is highly intermittent with electricity output varying from hour to hour and from day to day. Storage technologies are either inefficient or costly. In practise this means that, in Germany (world leader in wind energy), the base load is provided by ordinary fossil fuel plants. Some have used this argument against 'intermittent' wind power, saying the technology actually perpetuates coal based power generation and can not be called 'clean' because its expansion has effectively meant the expansion of fossil fuel use.
However, proponents of wind energy have called this the 'base load fallacy': there are relatively simple techniques to replace coal with other primary energy sources that can guarantee the baseload (earlier post). One of the most obvious solutions is to utilize renewable biomass instead. Biomass is stored solar energy. It can be physically transported, traded, stored and used whenever power or heat is required. The resource can easily cover both base and peak loads. Coupling renewables to each other in principle makes for robust energy systems. This is exactly what Energtrag will be demonstrating.
Near Prenzlau, capital city of the district of Uckermark in the state of Brandenburg, Energtrag will build a high-tech power complex that will supply both heat, power and hydrogen fuel in a variable way. The plant, which will integrate an existing wind farm and biomass plant, will have a combined capacity of 120 MW. The 500 kilowatt hydrogen production unit will be powered by excess electricity from the hybrid plant. Industrial-scale hydrogen production will commence in early 2008.
According to a study [*.pdf] on hybrid power generation by Enertrag, wind power produces 75% of its electricity in a time-frame that covers only 25% of total operational time. This means electricity generated from wind power is highly variable at several different timescales: from hour to hour, daily, and seasonally (map, click to enlarge, shows current output of Enertrag wind farms near Prenzlau - data change continuously). But it also means that - with biomass providing a robust base load - a lot of excess power becomes available that can be utilized for the production of storable hydrogen.
The integration of the hybrid renewable energy complex and the supply of different services - heat, electricity, back-up power, and hydrogen fuel - is based on an innovative data- and control management system. The supply of each product can thus be optimised according to the plant's own needs and depending on external demand. This allows for a highly efficient system:
energy :: sustainability :: biofuels :: bioenergy :: renewables :: wind :: biomass :: hyrdogen :: hybrid ::
The hybrid power plant's outline was presented at the 4th Prenzlauer Energiemesse, where, from October 19 to 20, more than forty of Germany's most innovative energy companies present their projects which they think will 'power the future'.
The project is being developed in partnership with experts from the University of Stralsund, the Technical University of Braunschweig and the international hydrogen community.
Enertrag already operates an experimental hybrid power plant based on solar and wind power located on the North Sea island of Pellworm. But there the efficiency of the solar plant is limited. The new biomass-wind station coupled to hydrogen production will be the first medium scale, fully operational hybrid plant.
Enertrag is a power company focused on the production of electricity and heat generated entirely from renewable sources, without dependence on fossil fuels. It is one of the world's largest wind power companies, with over 380 wind parks concentrated in Europe producing over a billion kilowatthours of electricity per year. Its portfolio supplies energy that can cover the needs of around one million people. Enertrag employs 230 people. The company's revenues grow at a yearly rate of around 20 percent.
Map courtesy of Enertrag AG.
References:
Enertrag AG: Startschuss für das ENERTRAG-Hybrid-Kraftwerk - October 19, 2007.
Enertrag: Energieversorgung der Zukunft – ganz einfach? [*.pdf] - Dauerthal, - February 20, 2005.
Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg: Hybridkraftwerk in der Uckermark - October 19, 2007.
Welt Online: Kraftwerk bei Prenzlau soll Strom aus Wind und Biomasse erzeugen - October 16, 2007.
Biopact: Energy major Total will not invest in wind power - the base-load fallacy - October 15, 2007
Article continues
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Energreen Development to produce biogas from drought tolerant sorghum
The company will produce energy from biomass in different forms and systems: cogeneration, anaerobic digestion and biogas, liquid biofuels and biohydrogen.
Its first large project is the production of biomethane from the medium-maturing H133 biomass sorghum, a very robust hybrid which requires low amounts of inputs. Sorghum is a genus of many tropical grass species often associated with semi-arid regions. There are grain, sweet, fiber and now hybrid sorghums bred specifically for biomass production. These hybrids have been made to thrive in European conditions. The H133 grows to a height of 4 to 4.5 meters (13-15ft). Contrary to maize, miscanthus, switchgrass or other energy crops, the hybrid sorghum requires no irrigation and less fertilizer but trials show it yields between 30 and 40 tons of dry matter biomass per hectare (12 - 16 tons/acre) (graph, click to enlarge).
According to Energreen the H133 sorghum is highly suitable for the production of biogas, yielding around 14,000 to 16,000 cubic meters per hectare. Depending on the CH4 content of the gas, this amount of biogas, when upgraded to natural gas quality comes down to an average of 7600 cubic meters of methane, enough to power a car for 80,000 kilometers. This is much more useable energy than can be obtained from converting biomass into liquid fuels. One hectare of H133 sorghum based biogas provides enough renewable, carbon-neutral fuel to power five average French passenger cars for an entire year:
energy :: sustainability :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: sorghum :: biogas :: biomethane :: efficiency :: energy balance ::
In Europe, biogas is being produced increasingly from dedicated energy crops. Most often, silage maize or purpose bred high yielding energy maize is used. But the search is on for crops that thrive in places where maize doesn't do well. Sorghums are candidates, as researchers from the North-Sea Bioenergy Partnership already found out (earlier post). Recently, a German team too launched a project to identify different sorghum varieties for biogas (earlier post).
Energreen found that H133 based biogas production has a very strong energy balance. Given its low inputs, the crop's greenhouse gas balance is excellent as well. This ensures that power companies and natural gas stations can obtain relatively large amounts of carbon credits when buying electricity or biomethane from Energreen. Alternatively, the upgraded fuel can be sold to natural gas filling stations to power fleets.
Energreen is negotiating with Electricité de France (EDF), the large state-run power company, to sell the electricity produced from carbon-neutral biogas within the framework of the country's Agenda 21, focused on supporting renewables.
In Europe, biogas is being developed on a large scale for the production of fuels for stationary power generation (to be used in natural gas plants or in fuel cells), as well as for the transport sector (earlier post and here). It is being fed into the natural gas grid on a large scale (previous post and especially here) or in dedicated pipelines supplying cities, while some are creating real biorefineries around it that deliver green specialty chemicals, fuels and power (earlier post). The green gas can be made by the anaerobic fermentation of biomass, either obtained from dedicated energy crops, or from industrial, municipal or agricultural waste-streams.
Of all biofuels, biogas delivers most useable energy per hectare of crops. It is also the least carbon intensive production path, with some biogas pathways actually delivering carbon-negative bioenergy (earlier post and here). Importantly, biogas can be integrated in carbon capture and storage systems (CCS), in a way that presents advantages over other CCS pathways (earlier post).
Some projections show biogas may replace all of Europe's natural gas imports from Russia by 2020 and yield up to 500 billion cubic meters per year (earlier post).
References:
Campagnes et Environnement: Les atouts du sorgho biomasse - October 19, 2007.
Energreen Development: Sorgho biogas.
Yield data taken from: Andreina Belocchi, Fabrizio Quaranta, Valerio Mazzon, Nicola Berardo, Ersilio Desiderio, "Fibre sorghum: influence of the harvesting methods
on plant moisture and fibre content", Interactive European Network for Industrial Crops and their Applications, s.d.
Biopact: Germans research sorghum varieties for biogas production - April 12, 2007
Biopact: "North Sea Bioenergy partnership plants sorghum and sudangrass for biogas" - October 25, 2006.
Biopact: "France develops 'super maize' for biogas" - October 04, 2006.
Article continues
posted by Biopact team at 3:31 PM 0 comments links to this post