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Basin Electric joins pilot project to marry wind, hydrogen

Intermittent renewable energy resource seeks fuel storage technology. Object: clean power production, storage and distribution. No, it’s not a scientific singles ad. It’s an innovative pilot program designed to bring wind energy and hydrogen fuel together.

A consortium of North Dakota energy companies and research institutions played matchmaker, and a $497,050 Federal grant is paying for the wedding. The goal of the project is to harness the state’s immense wind resources to produce, store and distribute hydrogen fuel.

Partnership eyes local research, economic possibilities
The consortium consists of Basin Electric Power Cooperative, the University of North Dakota Energy and Environmental Research Center, Stuart Energy Systems, the North Dakota State University North Central Research Extension Center, Verendrye Electric Power Cooperative and the city of Minot, N.D. The partners will contribute a total of $124,262 to the project.

Basin Electric Spokesperson Daryl Hill said that the utility is looking forward to learning more about hydrogen technology. “It’s a great opportunity to look at the economics of hydrogen fuels, different uses and the feasibility of those options,” he said of the project that grew out of a joint effort with the state congressional office.

U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), a member of the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, helped to secure the funding for the project.

“This project has enormous implications for the future of wind energy, hydrogen power and economic growth in America’s heartland,” Dorgan said in a press statement. “I’m pleased that the Department of Energy recognized this project as an important part of its research program.”

Project could stimulate state wind development
North Dakota’s wind energy potential ranks first among U.S. states, but the state has lagged behind in developing the resource. Low electricity demand and the need for expensive transmission upgrades to export wind power are among the factors holding back development.

The first phase of the project will examine those issues. Researchers will analyze the economic and environmental issues associated with producing hydrogen fuel using wind turbines. Converting wind energy to an alternative form locally could reduce or at least avoid regional transmission congestion problems often associated with wind generation.

Since intermittent electricity is difficult to store, the second phase, scheduled for spring 2005, seeks to develop an alternative use for wind energy. The project plan calls for building a hydrogen electrolyzer at the NDSU North Central Research Extension Center, with interconnection support from Verendrye Electric.

The hydrogen electrolyzer will convert the wind power from its intermittent form to a value-added energy source that can be stored and used as needed. The unit would be one of the nation’s first production sources of hydrogen from a renewable resource.

Some components in place for fuel production, use
Two wind developments—Basin Electric’s wind farm near Minot, N.D., and FPL Energy’s Edgeley-Kulm project—will be used as resources to supply electricity to the hydrogen electrolyzer.

“One of the factors that made the project viable for Basin Electric was that we have the wind element already in place,” said Hill.

“Dynamic scheduling” of the electrolyzer to match the wind generator is the key to the project. The electrolyzer will track the wind generation pattern and match its operation to the available wind energy.

The produced hydrogen will be stored for later use, primarily as a transportation fuel. Using hydrogen as a transportation fuel is expected to be the most efficient and economical application of wind-to-hydrogen production. “We are very interested in this aspect of hydrogen fuel,” acknowledged Hill.

With hydrogen-powered vehicles already on the ground, he added, there will be no need for researchers to create a prototype application. The city of Minot may consider the purchase of a municipal bus to run on the fuel the project produces.

Iowa research focuses on electricity production
A partnership planning a similar project in Iowa is more interested in generating electricity than transportation fuel.

Ames Laboratory hopes to build the world’s first wind and hydrogen energy plant under a three-way partnership with the city of Ames and Iowa State University. The focus on electricity is due to the lab’s previous research on hydrogen storage using metallic powders.

The proposal calls for two wind turbines to provide electricity to convert water to hydrogen. The hydrogen will be compressed and stored for later use. During peak generation times, the stored gas will be recombined with oxygen in underground fuel cells.

The system’s primary drawback is that it recovers only half of the energy originally generated. One goal of the research is to address that inefficiency.

City seeks to expand renewables experience
The city will provide in-kind services to the pilot project. Ames, Iowa, operates a municipal utility powered by 120 MW of local generation. Since 1975, 10 to 12 percent of that power has come from a continuously operating, solid waste recovery plant. “We’ve been in the renewable energy business a long time,” said Ames Electric Services Director Merlin Hove.

Unlike Basin Electric, the municipal utility has no previous wind power experience. “The wind resources are not as good here as they are in some other parts of the state,” Hove explained.

The community is very interested in the project, he added, and it’s an opportunity to learn about a different way of generating power. “They could use electricity to make hydrogen, but that’s not the point,” said Hoves. “The point is to make a connection between an intermittent renewable resource and firm power production.”

The connection might result in firm schedulable power or in clean, storable transportation fuel—research, like romance, is never certain. Either way, Basin Electric Power Cooperative and Ames Electric Services believe wind power and hydrogen are destined for a long and productive relationship.