A remote West Australian town to test a renewable hydrogen microgrid

Source: One Step off the Grid

A remote coastal town in Western Australia (WA) called Denham is now powered by four old wind turbines and a diesel generator. The community pays a high price for having the diesel trucked in and the turbines are at least 20 years old.

To generate most of their own power, the plan is to have a 704kW solar system, a 348kW hydrogen electrolyser, a compressor for hydrogen storage and a 100kW fuel cell to make electricity from the stored hydrogen when needed. There will be enough power for 100 homes but the new items will be connected to the existing system which will act as a backup. The hydrogen electrolyser, powered by solar energy, will split water to make green hydrogen. A Hydro Harvester could be used if water is scarce. 

The project is getting funding assistance from ARENA (Australian Renewable Energy Agency) which will use it as a test case for use in other remote Australian communities. "The potential for these communities to generate, store and use their own renewable energy could simultaneously reduce costs and reduce emissions without sacrificing the reliability of energy supply." said ARENA CEO Darren Miller.

Read more: Australia's first remote, renewable hydrogen microgrid wins ARENA backing. One Step off the Grid, November 27, 2020. 

UNSW to develop home hydrogen storage of renewable energy

Residential Hydrogen Storage System (UNSW Newsroom)

“Researchers at University of NSW Sydney with partners H2Store have received a $3.5 million investment from Providence Asset Group to develop a first-of-its-kind hydrogen storage system that could mean cheaper, safer storage for renewable energy.”

The inventor, Professor Aguey-Zinsou said: “We will be able to take energy generated through solar panels and store it as hydrogen in a very dense form, so one major advantage of our hydrogen batteries is that they take up less space and are safer than the lithium-ion batteries used in many homes today.  We can actually store about seven times more energy than the current systems.” (UNSW Newsroom).

From the drawing of the system above, if looks like electricity from solar panels will be used to make hydrogen and oxygen from water via electrolysis in the electrolyser. Somehow the hydrogen will be condensed and stored. It can be later used to power a fuel cell to make electricity for the house and charging an electric car when needed.

“The team hopes to have a 5kWh home storage system prototype ready by the end of this year, and a product on the market late in 2020. This would be followed by a “ramped up” 15kWh commercial-scale storage system.” (One Step off the Grid).

Further Reading:
- UNSW to develop hydrogen storage for renewables. UNSW Newsroom, March 19, 2019.
- Home Hydrogen Storage for rooftop solar? UNSW team says it’s coming in 2020. One Step Off the Grid, March 20, 2019.