1. Opportunities for the superwind concept in the region Fryslân
Integrating wind turbines with internal reforming
fuel cells for hydrogen and power co-production
GIN conference, Leeuwarden
Present a new concept: superwind
For which we are currently testing the feasibility
K.Hemmes, A.L. Vernay, D. Manné, G. Steenvoorden
November 9, 2018
The Faculty of Technology, Policy, and Management

2. WIND TURBINE + FUEL CELL: SUPERWIND
ELECTRICITY
ELECTRICITY GRID
CONTROLLER
WIND TURBINE
High temperature: 650 oC
Runs on natural gas or biogas
Internal heat to convert fuel into hydrogen. Can
be used to generate electricity
be extracted
 very flexible process
HEAT
FUEL CELL
HYDROGEN
NATURAL GAS
OR BIOGAS
November 9, 2018

3. What are the problems? Large scale integration of wind energy
may lead to grid congestion
and increase the need for reserve capacity
Wind turbine owners have to pay for balancing costs
Difficulty to develop an hydrogen infrastructure
November 9, 2018

4. Balancing costs wind turbine owners perspective:
Energy producers have to predict one day in advance how much they will deliver to the grid per hour.
That information is given to the Transmission System Operator
The day after operation, the actual amount delivered is measured.
If the amount measured is different from the amount predicted, the producer has to pay for the balancing costs
Balancing costs are usually higher than market price
November 9, 2018

5. Average balancing costs and APX price
Year
Shortage
(in €/MWh)
Surplus
APX
2005
55  -2
41  -12 53
2006
59  -1
52  -6 58
Oct 2006
56  -6
52  +2 50
2007
41 +1
38  -4 42
2008 (until May 12th )
69  -3
62  -4 66
Average APX price at the beginning of this year: around 60€!
November 9, 2018

6. How can superwind help solving that problem?
Superwind setup
Electric grid
Bio-methanisation
Residential housing
Transformer
Fuel cell
November 9, 2018

7. High degree of complexity
Economic feasibility depends on
CAPEX (Capital expenditure): currently 10,000 €/kW. SOFC target under SECA program 400 €/kW
OPEX: Cost of fuel (natural or biogas) & O&M
Varies depending on which operation mode the fuel cell is used
Price and market for our products:
Electricity: APX market
Hydrogen: ~37 €/MWh
 current price of gasoline without tax: 85€/MWh
Heat
Balancing costs
Fuel cell operation strategy
November 9, 2018

8. Is superwind economically feasible?
Fuel cell operation strategy
Fuel cell
Wind turbine
Compensate for
too little
power production
too much
both
Play with
APX market +
November 9, 2018

9. Preliminary results
NG gas costs 25 €/MWh
H2 price: 37 €/MWh
CAPEX excluded
1. Producing hydrogen substantially
increases the potential benefits of
the concept.
2. Compensating for shortage of
electricity is interesting only IF
additional electricity is also sold on
the APX market
3. Compensating for shortage
generally gives you more gain than
compensating for surplus.
4. playing on APX is the strategy
that gives the highest gain
‘profit’ = MWhapx.APX(t) + MWh+.price+(t)- MWh-.price-(t)-MWhFC.COE +MWh.H2(t)
Compensating for overproduction: to be able to compensate for overproduction from the turbine, half of the FC capacity is sold on the APX market. Economic loss occur because electricity is sold on the market even when prices are low + additional money made from overproduction is not given by the TenneT.
With low FC capacities, the FC is producing at higher power (thus lower efficiency), increasing the coe.
Reference here is when only play on APX and do not compensate for anything!
November 9, 2018

10. Opportunities for superwind in Fryslân
NBZ: Nij Bosma Zathe
• Experimental farm from
University of Wageningen
• Test site interested in testing
innovative ideas and
performing research
• Biogas is produced on-site at
NBZ by the fermentation of manure
• Possibilities to use waste heat
on-site
Delta Oil
Leeuwarden
Delta Oil:
• delivers several oil derived fuels
blended with biofuel.
• Delta Oil is also interested in
selling hydrogen at their petrol
station.
NBZ
Zuidlanden
November 9, 2018

11. Conclusions
Superwind is an efficient and innovative solution for combining wind turbine and fuel cells
It can help wind turbine owner to decrease their balancing costs
It can be used to adapt to a growing market for hydrogen, especially from boat in Fryslân
If implemented on a larger scale, it should help better integrate wind electricity to the grid by decreasing fluctuation and improving predictability
November 9, 2018

12. Acknowledgements Rob Kouwenberg and Maike Bouma from Windunie;
Durk Durksz from Nij Bosma Zathe;
and SenterNovem NEO program as sponsors
November 9, 2018

13. FUEL CELL WINDTURBINE ELECTRICITY GRID CONTROLLER BIOMASS POWER PLANT
MULTI-FUEL
TANK STATION
ORC/Geotec
Super heater
BIOGAS
HYDROGEN
NIJ BOSMA ZATHE
HEAT
November 9, 2018

14. Internal reforming fuel cell, an introduction
What is superwind?
Internal reforming fuel cell, an introduction
Standard Operation Point
High efficiency mode
Results based on flow sheets calculation for an IR-SOFC fed by natural gas
Fuel utilization is decreased by decreasing the current density
System can operate in a wide range of fuel utilization values from 95% i.e. ‘normal’ fuel cell operation mode up to 60% corresponding to hydrogen production mode.
High temperature FC (MCFC, SOFC)
fuel utilization is decreased by decreasing the current density
November 9, 2018

15. Internal reforming fuel cell, an introduction
What is superwind?
Internal reforming fuel cell, an introduction
High power mode
Fuel cells can be operated at almost double power density.
In addition also hydrogen is produced with equivalent ‘double power’.
November 9, 2018

16. Wind turbine + fuel cell: usual approach
ELECTRICITY
HYDROGEN
WIND TURBINE
ELECTROLYSIS
STORAGE
ELECTRICITY
ELECTRICITY GRID
FUEL CELL
November 9, 2018