Power-to-gas energy storage system launched in Germany

A power-to-gas plant that will, for the first time, link excess electricity generated from renewables, natural gas and district heating networks together has been inaugurated as part of a project in Ibbenbüren, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

The RWE project uses an ITM Power electrolyser to create hydrogen from excess renewable energy, which can then be stored in the gas network. The system then also allows stored gas to be siphoned into a cogeneration plant when needed to generate electricity and heat to feed into a local heat network.

Officials launching the plant highlighted the efficiencies that can be achieved through utilising the stored gas to generate both heat and power. ‘The option of storing excess eco-power locally and later using it when it is needed is an innovative and technological feat of the highest order. This process has potential to play a key role in the transformation of the energy industry,’ said Garrelt Duin, NRW Minister of Economics.

The ability to offer a novel method of storing and utilising excess renewable energy is particularly relevant in Germany, a country that has an increasingly high penetration of renewable power. Such technologies could be a key part of incorporating a high proportion of renewable capacity into the grid successfully.

‘In order to be able to pick up excess electricity from renewable sources onto our grid, we need alternatives to conventional grid expansion methods. This was the driving force behind our decision to embrace this new technology,’ said Dr Joachim Schneider, CTO of RWE Deutschland, at the plant’s inauguration.

‘The benefit of this form of electricity storage is the enormous infrastructure already offered by the natural gas network – which has huge storage capacity... But that is not all – with a utilisation rate of 86%, this power-to-gas plant here in Ibbenbüren is the most efficient of its kind in Germany.’