Netherlands

Netherlands

Lagerwey developing hydrogen-producing turbine

NETHERLANDS: Lagerwey is part of a consortium working on creating a hydrogen-producing wind turbine.

Lagerwey placed its 'David turbine' (above) next to a 'Goliath' windmill at a testing site
Lagerwey placed its 'David turbine' (above) next to a 'Goliath' windmill at a testing site

The manufacturer is working alongside sustainable hydrogen supplier Hygro and the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) at a testing site at Wieringerwerf in North Holland.

The consortium aims to be capable of distributing wind-generated hydrogen to at least five fuel stations, able to refuel a total of 100 trucks simultaneously.

In the future the turbines could be connected to a hydrogen gas network rather than an electricity grid, Lagerwey stated.

"Transporting hydrogen by pipeline is significantly cheaper than transporting electricity by cable," the manufacturer explained.

Hydrogen-producing projects

Several other projects linking wind energy to hydrogen have been launched or mooted in recent months.

A group of prefectural and city governments and technology companies in Japan built a demonstration project using a ten-year-old Vestas V80 2MW turbine to electrolyse water and create low-carbon hydrogen.

A consortium of European transmission system operators and gas infrastructure companies are aiming to create a wind power hub in the North Sea, from which surplus power could be used to produce hydrogen for large-scale storage.

And in the UK, carmaker Toyota is electrolysing excess power from a 225kW wind turbine to produce hydrogen that in turn powers its Mirai car.

Have you registered with us yet?

Register now to enjoy more articles
and free email bulletins.

Sign up now
Already registered?
Sign in