The regulation of the hydrogen plants would be done through E.ON’s virtual power plant that links a total of 150 plants in Germany and the United Kingdom. A total of around 600 MW of this VPP capacity is being marketed.
The principle is that if there is a high demand in the power grid, the plant will shut down hydrogen production so that the energy required for electrolysis is available on the grid instead for public power supply. Conversely, hydrogen production is ramped up if more energy from wind and solar power sources is fed into the grid than can be distributed.
thyssenkrupp and E.ON successfully tested the system at the Carbon2Chem pilot plant with a capacity of up to 2 MW in Duisburg. E.ON has also checked that the plant meets all the requirements for participation in the balancing power market.
“Previous tests had already shown that our electrolysis plants produce green hydrogen with high efficiencies. At the same time the plants are responsive and flexible enough to participate in the balancing energy market,” said Christoph Noeres, head of energy storage & hydrogen at thyssenkrupp.
“Our plants thus make a decisive contribution to a stable power supply and at the same time make a significant contribution to the economic efficiency of green hydrogen,” he concluded.