Wind energy solutions major Siemens Gamesa is developing the world’s first project capable of producing green hydrogen directly from air with the help of a wind turbine, and no connection to the grid ― in ‘island mode’.

The pilot project underway in Denmark will be up and running by January 2021 and help in field-testing the technology for producing hydrogen directly from wind energy. The project will serve as a test bed for making large-scale, cost-efficient hydrogen production a reality.

This represents a strategic step towards delivering large-scale green hydrogen from the mid-2020s onwards. The pilot project connects a wind turbine to an electrolyser with the ability to operate in ‘island mode,’ driving an electrolysis rig with no link to an electricity grid.

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“Green hydrogen has the potential to be a game changer in the quest to decarbonise the power supply and solve the climate crisis. Our wind turbines are already making a huge contribution to this effort by providing clean electricity to the grid, but with the storage potential of hydrogen, we can start addressing other key industries. This is an exciting project. This is the future,” Andreas Nauen, Siemens Gamesa, CEO, said.

With the Brande Hydrogen project, Siemens Gamesa is pioneering a major potential future application for both onshore and offshore wind. The pilot is now under development close to Siemens Gamesa’s Danish headquarters in Brande, western Denmark.

It includes a 3 MW Siemens Gamesa wind turbine owned by local partner Uhre Windpower, that will produce clean electricity to power a 400 kW electrolyser. This machine splits water into oxygen and hydrogen, so that the hydrogen can be stored and later delivered to customers in the mobility sector.

Green hydrogen from renewable sources is a 100 per cent sustainable, storable, transportable and versatile fuel. The project is close to obtaining final permits. The first test runs are planned for December 2020 and hydrogen production should start by January 2021.

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Siemens Gamesa has signed up with Danish company Everfuel, which will distribute the 100 per cent green hydrogen produced by the facility to refuelling stations across Denmark. In Copenhagen, it will be used to fuel taxis. The project’s single turbine will produce enough hydrogen to fuel around 50-70 taxis each day.

Carbon-free hydrogen, derived from low-cost, competitive wind power, can be stored and transported for use on demand. This facility will provide insights that will be crucial to scaling up the technology to much larger turbines and wind farms, both on land and at sea.

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