Electrolyzer technology  –

the  Siemens  view

Manfred  Waidhas,  Siemens  AG,  91058  Erlangen,  Germany
HFC  Nordic,  Sandviken,  S weden,  Oct 26,  2 016

Unrestricted /  ©  Siemens  AG  2 016.  All  Rights Reserved.

 Integration  of  renewable  energy
...will  challenge  the  energy  industry

2)
GWh

Nysted Offshore   Wind  Farm,  72  units   2.3  MW,  165.6   MW

[GW]          

RE  power   The  mismatch  between  

power  generation

generation   volatile  RE  power  generation  

and  load   and  local  power  demand  may  
curves lead  to  notable  curtailment.

Source:  TU  Berlin,   Prof.  

Erdmann,   extrapolated for the
year 2020

The  future  CO2-­reduced  energy  scenario  will  require  smart  solutions.

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Energy  storage  
will   become  essential  in  a  Renewable   Energy  scenario

2 1 DMS  *  and  load  shifting  

Too  slow,  public  
acceptance  low   already practiced,  impact  
will  not  be  sufficient
Grid
Smart grid
extension

Flexible and
Storage  o f  excess Energy
Grid  energy  subsequent   efficient power Topic  of  current  develop-­
to  o ther  three  o ptions storage
generation ments,  but  technical  and  
economic  limitations

4 3
*  DMS  =  d emand side management

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 Electrical  Energy  Storage
Options  to  address  large  scale  “Grid  Storage”  are  limited

Key  statements
§ There  is  no  universal  solution  for  
electrical  storage
/  Methane
§ Large  scale  storage  can  only  be  
addressed  by  Pumped  Hydro,  
Compressed  Air  (CAES)  and  
chemical  storage  media  like  
hydrogen  and  methane  

§ The  potential  to  extend  pumped  

hydro  capacities  is  very  limited  

§ CAES  has  limitations  in  

operational  flexibility  and  
capacity  

H2 via  P2G  is  the  only  viable  approach  to  store  electrical  energy  >10  GWh
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 Hydrogen  is  multi-­functional:  shifts  CO2-­savings  
in  power  generation  to  mobility  and  industry

H2 enables  the  coupling  between  energy,  mobility  &  industry  markets

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 Hydrogen  production  via  electrolysis  
The  enabler  for  large-­scale  energy  storage/conversion

• There  is  a  huge  industrial  demand  of  hydrogen  (≈  100  billion  USD)

today • Electrolyzers,  splitting  water  into  H2 and  O2 are  used  in  niches  for  
hydrogen  production.  
• However,  they  will  be  the  enabler  to  store  (volatile)  electricity.  
à New  technical  properties  will  be  required

Fields  of  application Technical  requirements

§ Energy  storage § Green  generation
tomorrow

§ Power  to  chemicals § High  dynamic

§ Hydrogen  mobility   § Intermittent  operation

§ Black  start  capability

Electrolyzers for  renewable  integration  require  specific  properties

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 Electrolyzers for grid services
….  require specific properties

main technical requirements:

typical load profile of an  electrolyzer
in  a  grid service project
• quality  of  grid  connection  (harmonic  distortions,  power  
factor,  flicker  etc.)
• capable  to  be  connected  to  grid  control  systems  
(hardware  &  software)
total  power      [  %  ]

• low  energy  consumption  in  stand  by  mode;;  quick  cold  

start
• low  degradation  in  intermittent  operation  modes
• safety  standards  for  customer  friendly  installations  (not  
only  restricted  to  chemical  plants)
• high  efficiency  of  the  o verall  system  in  intermittent  
day of month [May  2013]
operation    
source:   Siemens
• robustness  and  reliability  have  higher  priority  than    
performance  (e.g.  membrane  thickness)
• service-­friendly  setup

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 Project  “Energiepark  Mainz“:  Delivery of
the first Siemens  Electrolyzer in  the MW-­range

Objective:  
• Develop  an  energy  storage  plant  for  the  
decentralized  use  of  grid  bottlenecks  in  order  
to  provide  grid  services  (control  power  )
• High  efficiency,  dynamic  load  changes
• Injection  in  local  gas  grid  and  multi-­use  
trailer-­filling  
• 6  MW  Electrolyzer (3  Stack  à  2  MW)  
• Timeline:  03/2013  – 12/2016

Milestones:
• Groundbreaking  ceremony   May  2014
• Commissioning July  2015

Partners:
Project  funded  by  BMWi
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Energiepark Mainz
Elektrolyzer System
§ 3  SILYZER  200  
PEM-­electrolyzer skids
§ 1.25  MW  rated  power  /  2.0  MW  
peak  power  (limited  in  time)
§ High  dynamic:  load  changes  in  
seconds,  capable  for  partial  load  
in  a  wide  range
§ 35  bar  outlet  pressure

9
 SILYZER  200  /  Electrolyser basic  system
Solution  for tomorrow

Main  Technical    Data  -­ SILYZER  200

§ Electrolysis  type  /  principle   PEM
§ Rated  Stack  Power 1.25  MW
§ Dimension  Skid 6,3  x  3,1  x  3,0  m
§ Start  up  time  (from  stand-­by)  <  10  sec
§ Output  p ressure   Up  to  35  b ar
§ Purity  H2 99.5%  -­ 99.9% *
§ H2 Quality  5.0 DeOxo-­Dryer  option
§ Rated  H2 production   225  Nm³/h
Basic  s ystem
§ Overall  Efficiency  (system) 65  – 70  %
Skid Power § Design  L ife  T ime >  80.000  h
Stack electronics
High  pressure High  current § Weight  per  Skid   17  t
circuit rectifier
Low  pressure Trafo § CE-­Conformity   yes
circuit
safety   and § Tap  Water  Requirement 1,5  l  /  Nm³  H2
sensors Control

*   depends  o n  o peration

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Energiepark Mainz    
Silyzer System  -­ Easy  to  transport  and  to  install  

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 Energiepark Mainz – Status
First  results
§ Regular  operation  from  Sep  01  to  Oct  23,  2015  
§ purchase  of  electricity  following  price  development  of  EEX  (workdays  8:00am  to  06:00pm)
§ approx.  700  MWh  electricity  consumed
§ approx.  40  trailers  filled
à Expectations  towards  power,  dynamic  performance  and  efficiency  fulfilled
à No  critical  failures

purchased  
electric   power electricity   price
purchased   electric   power

electricity   price
Quelle:  eigene  Darstellung

12
Energiepark Mainz Demand  in  secondary  control  power  ( 2nd CP)  
and  conceivable  use  of  a  PtG plant
Qualification for grid services positive   2nd CP negative   2nd CP
BETR.  P OS BETR.  NEG

in  2nd control  power

participation control power  market starting in  Q2  /  2016 1 500  MW
1 000  MW
required  qualification   measured

SRL-­Bedarf
Soll-­Leistung
power  slope               Ist-­Leistung
power  profile               500  MW
0  MW
6 000   -­500  MW

demand  
-­1 000  MW
5 000   -­1 500  MW
0:00h 6:00h 12:00h 18:00h 24:00h
4 000  
power  [kW]

4  MW

PtG-­Anlage
PtG plant  
3 000  
3  MW
2 000  
2  MW

Einsatzof  
operation  
1 000  
1  MW
-­
13:00:00 13:15:00 13:30:00 13:45:00 14:00:00 0  MW
Tagesverlauf   (14.01.2015)
intraday  Jan  14,  2015            
source:  own measurements

13
 Energiepark Mainz – Status
First  results
H 2 production
H2  Produktion efficiency
Wirkungsgrad

• Efficiency  evaluations   1 200   120%

under  consideration  of  
Hydrogen  production  [ Nm³/h]

overall  purchased 1 000   100%

AC  System  efficiency  (HHV)

electricity  and  mea-­
sured H2  production   800   80%

(outlet  electrolyzers)
600   60%
• Data  obtained  by  
measurements  in   400   40%

Oct  2015
200   20%

-­ 0%
-­ 1 000   2 000   3 000   4 000   5 000   6 000   7 000  
Purchased  power  Energiepark Mainz  [kW]

14
 “Power  to  Gas”  needs  a  common  understanding

Power  to  Gas

(P2G)

Power  to  Hydrogen Power  to  NG-­grid Power  to  SNG

(P2H) (P2NG) (P2SNG)

use  of  hydrogen  as  a  valuable   injection  of  hydrogen  into  the   reaction  of  hydrogen  with  CO2
material natural  gas  grid to  methane  and  subsequent  
-­ directly  as  fuel -­ use  as  fuel
-­ chemical  syntheses   -­ injection  into  the  NG  grid
-­ process  gas  

The  business  cases  of  the  individual  P2G  approaches  differ  notably.
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 Green  (CO2-­free)  hydrogen:
a  broad  variety  of  potential  applications

Industry * Mobility Energy

• Refineries • H2 as fuel for • Re-­electrifi-­

public cation in  
transport H2-­turbines

• Ammonia plant • Substitute  of • Admixing to

bio-­ethanol   conventional
admixing gas  turbines

• Steel   • Generator  
production cooling

*  Besides these:  g lass,  semiconductor,  food&beverage

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 Outlook
Siemens  -­ Complete  solutions  from  one  hand

heavy  d uty rectifiers

transformers electrolyzer systems

grid connection control technologies

wind  turbines

gas  and steam turbine

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Summary

§ CO2-­reduction  targets  are  clearly  linked  with  renewables.  

They  will  require  storage  capacities  in  the  TWh-­range

§ Hydrogen  via  Power-­to-­Gas  is  the  only  viable  approach  to  

store  electrical  energy  >10  GWh.

§ Hydrogen  is  multifunctional:  it  can  be  re-­electrified,  but  also  

shifted  to  the  industry  or  mobility  sector  (“sector  coupling“)

§ Power  to  Gas  -­ with  electrolyzer as  enabling  component  -­ is  

an  economic  option  to  increase  the  flexibility  of  the  electric  
grid.  

§ Sector  coupling  will  be  essential  to  reach  CO2 reduction  

targets.

§ Siemens  is  prepared  to  provide  electrolyzer systems  and  

related  technologies  in  the  required  power  range  and  volume.

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