Denmark designates historic energy test zones to support green energy transition
The Danish government has today (5
th May) designated energy test zones to two danish companies to support a transition to green energy and hydrogen.
The clean energy industrial cluster GreenLab and Siemens Gamesa’s Brande hydrogen project have both been selected as the designated companies that will act as official regulatory energy test zones.
The test zone permit gives GreenLab and Siemens dispensation from electricity regulations and brings Denmark one step closer to the integration of unprecedented amounts of renewable energy into the energy grid.
These designated test zones will be a one of a kind in Europe and the insights will be valuable for all of Europe’s green transition – including clean energy storage, green fuels, agriculture and industry.
The European Union wants to build 40 gigawatts of green hydrogen electrolyzers by 2030 and estimates that 80 to 120 gigawatts of solar and wind will be needed to power them.
That’s a new headache for Europe’s grid operators. Decarbonization is expected to double the demand for electricity as transport and heat are also electrified.
Taking hydrogen production off the power grid could be a win-win solution to these problems. That’s the idea behind plans for what s termed islanded hydrogen, which would pair electrolyzers with offshore wind farms and send hydrogen molecules, rather than electrons, back to shore.
The AquaVentus consortium, led by German utility RWE, is exploring the deployment of up to 10 GW of islanded green hydrogen by 2035, with the island of Heligoland serving as a central hub. That makes it the largest green hydrogen proposal on the drawing board thus far. Other AquaVentus partners include Siemens Energy, Vattenfall, Vestas, Siemens Gamesa and Shell.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE, Zamudio, Spain) says it is embarking on the path of decarbonizing pollution-heavy sectors including transport and heavy industry, by installing the first system in the world capable of producing green hydrogen zero-carbon fuel made by electrolysis, using renewable power from wind and solar to split water into hydrogen and oxygen directly with a wind turbine, with no connection to the grid (i.e. in “island mode”). This represents a strategic step towards delivering large-scale green hydrogen from the mid-2020s onwards.
“Green hydrogen has the potential to be a game changer in the quest to decarbonize the power supply and solve the climate crisis. Our wind turbines are already making a huge contribution to this effort by providing clean electricity to the grid but, with the storage potential of hydrogen, we can start addressing other key industries. This is an exciting project and I’m proud that the i