Development of large scale electrolysis systems: Necessity and approach

Abstract

The extension of power generation out of regenerative sources, such as wind power and photovoltaic is a major lever to achieve the ambitious targets to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide. Those sources are extremely volatile. Therefore, systems are needed to stabilize the grids and furthermore help to avoid excess generation and supply bottlenecks. Large-scale electrolysis systems convert water into hydrogen using for instance regenerative energy. Thereby huge amounts of energy will be storable for long periods. Such PEM electrolysis systems must have a power of at least 50 MW and must technically also be able to operate highly efficiently in such an extreme dynamic environment. Siemens is pushing the upscaling and the production of such large-scale PEM electrolysis systems.