The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) has procured an electrolyser to convert power generated at its tidal test site in Orkney to hydrogen fuel. The centre said in a statement that the ground-breaking new project would pilot the storage of electricity from different forms of renewables, overcoming island grid constraints.

The principal component of the system, which is to be supplied by ITM Power, is a 0.5MW ‘polymer electrolyte membrane’ (PEM) electrolyser with integrated compression and up to 500kg of storage. The total contracted value of the project is GBP 1.79 million (EUR 2.5 million).
The 0.5MW electrolyser will be used to absorb some of the excess power generated by the tidal turbines testing at EMEC. The hydrogen gas generated will be compressed and stored, with some of the gas being used in a hydrogen fuel cell to provide backup power to EMEC’s extensive data gathering and control systems.

“The electrolyser will allow us to pilot the production of hydrogen fuel from tidal energy, and allow surplus renewable energy on the island to be used without having to rely upon the inadequate grid... We really see this as the moment we begin to break away from the shackles of the 20th century cable architecture,” EMEC Managing Director Neil Kermode said.

For more information:
http://www.emec.org.uk/press-release-integrated-hydrogen-system-for-tidal-energy-storage/