Last November was held in the installations of the Hydrogen Foundation in Aragon the Kick off Meeting of the ELYGRID Project that will last for three years. This meeting was intended to take for starting the project and establish the lines of action to be carried out in 2012. There was also time for all project members visited the installatios of the Foundation, with emphasis on the part of the alkaline electrolyzer.
ELYGRID Project aims at contributing to the reduction of the total cost of hydrogen produced via electrolysis coupled to renewable energy sources, mainly wind turbines, and focusing on megawatt size electrolyzers (from 0,5 MW and up). The objectives are to improve the efficiency related to the complete system by 20% (10% related to the stack, and 10% electrical conversion) and to reduce costs by 25%. The work will be structured in 3 different parts, namely: cell improvements, power electronics, and balance of plant (BOP). Two scalable prototype electrolyzers will be tested in facilities which allow feeding with renewable energies (photovoltaic and wind).
The participants in the project are: Fundación para el Desarrollo de las Nuevas Tecnologías del Hidrógeno en Aragón (FHa), Industrie Haute Technologie (IHT), Eidgenössische Materialprüfungs- und Forschungsanstalt (EMPA), Helion S.A.S., Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH (FZJ), Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek N.V. (VITO), Lapesa Grupo Empresarial, Instrumentación y Componentes, S.A. (INYCOM or I&C), INGETEAM Energy, Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA).
