Wind/hydrogen hybrid systems: Opportunity for Ireland’s wind resource to provide consistent sustainable energy supply

Abstract

Ireland with its resource of wind has the potential to use this natural resource and sustain the country's power needs for the future. However, one of the biggest drawbacks to renewable energy generation, particularly wind generated electricity is that it is an intermittent and a variable source of power. Even at the "best" sites wind varies dramatically from hour to hour and minute to minute. This leads to two main problems: 1) When the wind drops below a lower limit or goes above a higher limit the turbine can shut down and electricity is not produced. 2)Energy is not stored when there is an excess of electricity generated on site. Because of these problems wind power has a very low capacity credit and backup power is needed to handle the large fluctuation of production.This paper introduces the energy system of Ireland and the targets that Irish operators are to achieve in the next decade. A review of energy storage options for Ireland is outlined including the use of hydrogen and fuel cell technology. It is concluded that a project similar to the Norwegian Utsira wind / hydrogen project could be piloted in Ireland and a site similar to Dundalk Institute of Technology could be used to demonstrate and test the system. Going forward to achieve high levels of renewable energy generation, similar distributed wind / hydrogen hybrid systems could reduce the need for curtailment of wind farms, save wasted energy, reduce backup power, reduce transmission losses, generate large revenue by selling power at peak times, ensure security of supply and reduce the need for costly interconnects to Europe.

Representative model and flow characteristics of open pore cellular foam and potential use in proton exchange membrane fuel cells

“…The Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell is a low temperature electrochemical device that offers a promising, possibly green, alternative to traditional power sources, and other fuel cell types, in many applications, without air polluting issues [1][2][3]. PEM fuel cells use a solid polymer in the form of a solid phase proton conducting membrane as an electrolyte.…”

Regional integration of renewable energy systems in Ireland – The role of hybrid energy systems for small communities

“…The resource is widely available throughout the country with the greatest potential along the western and north-western Atlantic coastlines. To address the issue of intermittency of wind energy, and in particular over-generation of electricity during times of low demand, Carton and Olabi [5] investigated the possibility of hydrogen production and storage in conjunction with wind power in Ireland. In this wind/hydrogen system the excess power produced when demand is low is used in an electrolyser to produce hydrogen.…”

“…Connolly et al [4] reported the maximum realisable penetration of wind energy into the Irish energy network is 30% from both an economic and a technical viewpoint. Carton and Olabi [5] reported on the performance of a single wind turbine installed in 2005 on-site at a third-level education institution on the east coast, described as the first urban turbine in Ireland. The turbine has a maximum output of 850KW and provides approximately one third of the on-campus electrical energy demand, saving €125,000 annually.…”

“…A number of authors have investigated pathways to a renewable energy industry in Ireland (e.g. [1,[4][5][6]), the majority of which have focussed on Ireland's main renewable resource: wind. Connolly et al [4] reported the maximum realisable penetration of wind energy into the Irish energy network is 30% from both an economic and a technical viewpoint.…”

The impact of electricity storage on wholesale electricity prices

“…Such systems are able to provide fast startups and rampings, thus allowing the power system to offset the impact of renewable energy generation (Brown and Lopes, 2008;Zeng et al, 2006;Abbey and Joós, 2007;Li and Joós, 2007;Carton and Olabi, 2010). The integration of storage in weak networks with an intermittent energy source improves power quality and reduces the cost of electricity significantly .…”