Siemens Gamesa is developing the first pilot project in the world to connect a wind turbine to an electrolyser with the ability to operate in "island mode", i.e. driving an electrolysis rig with no link to an electricity grid. The pilot is now under development close to Siemens Gamesa’s Danish headquarters in Brande, western Denmark.It includes a 3MW Siemens Gamesa wind turbine owned by local partner Uhre Windpower, that will produce clean electricity to power a 400 kW electrolyser. This machine splits water into oxygen and hydrogen, so that the hydrogen can be stored and later delivered to customers in the mobility sector. The project is close to obtaining final permits; the first test runs are planned for December 2020 and hydrogen production should start by January 2021. Siemens Gamesa recently signed an agreement with Danish company Everfuel, which will distribute the 100% green hydrogen produced by the facility to refueling stations across Denmark, for example in Copenhagen, where it will be used to fuel taxis. When fully operational, the project’s single turbine will produce enough hydrogen to fuel around 50-70 taxis each day. Carbon-free hydrogen, derived from low-cost, competitive wind power, can be stored and transported for use on demand. This facility will provide insights that will be crucial to scaling up the technology to much larger turbines and wind farms both on land and at sea.
