The Speyer municipal utility company (SWS) has planned a regional hydrogen economy. In addition to an electrolyzer, the connection to the nationwide hydrogen core grid is also to be realized.
The SWS are planning a regional energy honeycomb to increase local value creation. In the energy honeycomb, the expansion of renewable energies is to be combined with hydrogen generation, explained Christoph Doll, Head of Business Customer Sales at SWS. For this purpose, the municipal utility company wants to build an electrolyzer.
The offtake of the hydrogen has not yet been clarified. The Rhineland-Palatinate municipal utility provider is still looking for regional customers for the green energy carrier. Initial discussions with energy-intensive companies in the city have begun. According to SWS, companies with high energy consumption that currently still cover this with natural gas are particularly sought after. Engineering firms and educational institutions are also participating in the project. For the implementation, the consortium is looking for further partners, especially from the logistics industry.
In addition to local production and offtake, the SWS also want to achieve a connection to the hydrogen core grid, which was approved by the Federal Network Agency on October 22. The company announced that a pipeline outlet at the planned core grid has already been applied for.
Battery Storage Against Curtailment
In addition to the electrolyzer, the municipal utility company also wants to install a battery storage system. Both are to be operated with software optimization. According to SWS, they currently generate a lot of energy from renewable sources such as wind power and photovoltaics, which, however, are switched off at times of negative exchange prices, explained Dominique Theuer, Project Engineer Renewable Energies. This is to change in the future with the use of the battery storage system. In times of negative prices, the plants are to continue operating in the future and thus continuously supply green electricity for the production of hydrogen.
The SWS have already taken a first step towards hydrogen production at the sewage treatment plant of the Speyer Disposal Company. At the end of August of this year, the groundbreaking ceremony for a plant for hydrogen production from sewage sludge took place there. The state of Rhineland-Palatinate is supporting the project with financial funding.
The SWS want to exhaust further funding opportunities in the field of hydrogen. However, this requires success in initiating a project with partners that will ultimately lead to the marketing of regionally produced hydrogen to local companies. Interested partners can contact the SWS.
