On the ability of pem water electrolysers to provide power grid services

Water electrolysis is considered as a cornerstone technology for the large scale storage of energy and for carbon abatements in the frame of the energy transition. The purpose of this research work was to analyze power grid operational constraints, to design specific load profiles of interest for power grid management and then to use these protocols for the characterization and qualification of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) water electro-lysers in view of grid balancing services. In the first section, management constraints of European power grids are described and analyzed. Using a typical regulation mechanism as an illustrative example, power specifications for primary and secondary reserve management are specified. The economics of such management procedures is also analyzed. In the second section, some key technical characteristics of PEM water electrolysis stacks are described. Test specifications designed for the qualification of water electrolysers to both primary and secondary reserve markets are defined. In the last section, selected test results are reported and the ability of PEM water electrolysis stacks to provide the services of interest is analyzed. In particular, a set of key performance indicators, designed for the characterization of PEM water electrolysers operating in transient power conditions of interest for grid services, are defined. Test results show the ability of PEM water electrolysis stacks to satisfy the most stringent grid constraints, but remaining limitations are identified. The main innovative contributions of this research work were to design test protocols for both primary and secondary power reserves management, and to demonstrate that PEM water electrolysers can be used for such applications. (C) 2018 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.