New Energies, new possibilities

Enapter has received the first order for its AEM Multicore electrolyser, a containerised system for megawatt-class green hydrogen production.

Berlin (2 November 2021); Enapter (WKN A255G0) has received the first order for its AEM Multicore electrolyser, a containerised system for megawatt-class green hydrogen production. Based on its modular and patented AEM technology, already in use in more than 40 countries, the AEM Multicore provides low-cost, flexible and reliable electrolysis from intermittent renewables. The large-scale system was ordered by the German Steinbeis Innovation Center siz energie+ through one of Enapter’s sales and integration partners, H2 Core Systems. It is scheduled for delivery to the northern German city of Braunschweig in June 2023.

Enapter’s AEM Multicore system will operate at the Braunschweig Research Airport, a leading competence centre for mobility in Europe. It will enable a wide variety of tests, with the green hydrogen it produces being used, among other things, to supply fuel cell test benches. One of the buildings on site will use the waste heat arising from production. 

“Supplying buildings directly with locally-generated energy, while also achieving cross-sectoral coupling between electricity, heat and mobility is one of the central challenges of the transformation we are finding ourselves in. With our projects in Braunschweig, we are researching exactly this – and the AEM Multicore will play a key role since it fits our needs ideally with its straightforward, megawatt-scale green hydrogen production and integrated energy management,” says David Sauss, one of the leaders of siz energie+. 

The AEM Multicore represents a cost-effective alternative to traditional megawatt-class electrolysers, combining 420 core modules – “AEM Stacks” – into a complete system that can produce ~450 kilograms of hydrogen per day. Enapter thus has a clear goal: to rapidly reduce costs by scaling many small units into a large megawatt-scale green hydrogen plant. 

“It was in April of this year that we introduced the AEM Multicore and today we already have the first order. This explicitly underpins our strategy to occupy the market segment of megawatt systems by means of freely scalable and standardised systems,” said Enapter’s CEO Sebastian-Justus Schmidt. 

Braunschweig-based siz energie+, a member of the Steinbeis network, offers services in the field of energy and quality management, as well as conceptual design of supply systems. The integration will be carried out by one of Enapter’s sales and integration partners, H2 Core Systems GmbH, through which the AEM Multicore order was placed.  

About Enapter 

Enapter is an award-winning energy technology company producing highly efficient hydrogen generators to replace fossil fuels. Its patented and proven Anion Exchange Membrane (AEM) technology allows for the mass production of low-cost, plug-&-play electrolysers for green hydrogen at any scale. The modular systems are used in 40 countries in sectors like energy, mobility, industry, heating and telecommunications. Enapter has offices in Italy, Germany, Thailand and Russia.  

GenCell Energy, a leading Israel-based manufacturer of fuel cell energy solutions, has announced that it successfully completed integration between the Enapter AEM electrolyser and the GenCell alkaline fuel cell. The project demonstrated the successful performance of the GenCell fuel cell and Enapter electrolyser and validated that the electrolyser successfully generates the amount and quality of hydrogen needed to operate the alkaline fuel cell in a hybrid or backup power solution, strengthening the value proposition of both products to successfully fill the power requirements of many use cases, both on and off-grid.

As the energy sector around the world increases the uptake of intermittent solar and wind power and raises its decarbonisation goals, there is growing feasibility, justification, and demand for hybrid power and green microgrid systems. Hybrid power systems today, whether operating entirely or partially on-grid or off-grid, increasingly recognise the value of incorporating electrolysers, fuel cells, and hydrogen storage for long-duration power to offset intermittent power generation sources, charge short-lived batteries and achieve decarbonisation goals. Integrating the Enapter AEM electrolyser together with the GenCell alkaline fuel cell in a hybrid or microgrid power system prevents curtailment of surplus intermittent energy and instead leverages the electrolyser to convert that energy to industrial-grade hydrogen.

This industrial-grade hydrogen can be economically stored and used on-demand as fuel to run the GenCell alkaline fuel cell when intermittent, grid or battery power is not available, both to charge the batteries and to provide electricity for as long as needed, until the other power sources return to production. The ability of each Enapter electrolyser to feed the alkaline fuel cell without costly filtration or purification simplifies and eliminates additional costs from the power system. Producing hydrogen-on-demand with an electrolyser next to the fuel cell both eliminates the often-significant logistical operations and operating expenses of the hydrogen supply chain and makes fuel cells relevant for long-duration back-up in locations where hydrogen is not readily available. In many poor grid systems or hybrid environments where hydrogen is either not available or very costly to supply, today the integrated Enapter-GenCell solution can deliver crucial and emission-free back-up power at a cost that is equivalent to or lower than the cost of diesel power. Both Enapter and GenCell offer TCO calculations demonstrating already today that the cost of the joint solution is equivalent to or less than the cost of back-up power from diesel generators, wherein the costs of the equipment of both manufacturers are expected to drop further as technologies mature and lifetimes extend.

As we broach the future of energy networks following the impact of Coronavirus, there are many factors that add impetus for change. With uncertainty and decline in prices of fossil fuels and an increased ratio of intermittent renewables in the energy mix both to combat climate change and to stimulate new jobs, utilities and businesses are looking for new and better solutions to ensure power resilience to counter this greater volatility. Many of them are considering local microgrids, which according to the International Energy Association (IEA) will deliver 30% of our future electricity. More and more of these microgrids are incorporating hydrogen and fuel cells to enable long-duration energy storage and generation. Producing more ‘green’ hydrogen when renewable energy is plentiful by means of electrolysis, storing the hydrogen and converting it to energy-on-demand by means of the fuel cell to complement short-duration batteries and to resolve seasonal fluctuations makes microgrids resilient and energy and fossil fuel-independent.

“We are pleased and not surprised to learn the results of GenCell’s validation of the satisfactory performance of our electrolysers,” remarks Sebastian-Justus Schmidt, CEO, Enapter. “While our versatile equipment can easily be paired with most any fuel cell on the market, as Enapter, we look to minimise the costs and maximise the reliability of our solutions for our customers. Bottom line, GenCell’s unique capacity to run on 99.9% purity hydrogen will save customers more money.”

Comments Rami Reshef, CEO, GenCell, “The advent of the hybrid power solution and green microgrid is changing the future of our energy economy for the better. Production of green hydrogen at scale will significantly increase the demand for renewable energy, creating jobs and accelerating decarbonisation. Utilities are achieving faster and more reliable grid modernisation in weather-sensitive regions by replacing traditional pole and line systems with renewable microgrids. Now that in addition to being reliable, weather-resistant and emission-free, hybrid power solutions incorporating Enapter AEM electrolysers and GenCell alkaline fuel cells are becoming more economic than diesel, it is even more relevant to Say No to Diesel.”

https://www.energyglobal.com/electric-hybrid/13092020/electrolyser-and-fuel-cell-to-power-hybrid-green-energy-solutions/