(405a) Wind to Hydrogen Demonstration Project: Results and Lessons Learned

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is working with the electrolyzer industry and electric utilities to improve the integration and performance of renewable hydrogen production via electrolysis. NREL and Xcel Energy have collaborated to develop, operate and perform a wide range of tests on the Wind-to-Hydrogen (Wind2H2) demonstration project in Boulder, CO. The Wind2H2 project is investigating opportunities to improve the matching of renewable sources and the hydrogen producing electrolyzers by designing and integrating systems to accommodate the natural variability of these energy sources. NREL has designed, built and tested both wind and photovoltaic to electrolyzer stack power electronic converters. Summarizing one set of tests, a maximum power point tracking DC/DC power converter outperformed a direct-connection to the electrolyzer stack by capturing between 10% and 20% more energy from the PV array. Stack and system efficiency measurements for the electrolyzers and compressor will be presented. In addition, fueling data and preliminary operational experience with a new 350 bar filling station and fuel cell vehicle will be shared. Lessons learned and implications for future commercial system, based on the design and testing of the renewable hydrogen system are summarized. Finally, experimental findings are extrapolated to analyze large-scale wind-to-hydrogen systems to show how efficiency and capital cost improvements can reduce the cost of renewable hydrogen production from electrolysis.