INGRID Project to Launch 1.2 MW Electrolyser with 1 ton of Storage for Smart Grid Balancing in Italy
23 Jul 2012
A consortium of seven European partners have joined to launch the INGRID project – a €23.9 million four year project combining electrolysis, hydrogen storage and smart grid monitoring and control to balance power supply and demand under a scenario of a high penetration of renewables. The project, which will take place in the Puglia region of Italy, has received €13.8 million of European Commission funding under the Seventh Framework Programme.
The project is being coordinated by Engineering Ingegneria Informatica, Italy’s largest privately owned information and communication technology provider. Partnering on the project are Puglia regional authority ARTI; Enel Distribuzione, Italy’s largest electricity distributor; electrolyser manufacturer Hydrogenics via its Belgian arm; French hydrogen storage specialist McPhy Energy; and two research institutions, RSE in Italy and TECNALIA in Spain.
The Puglia region already has more than 3,500 MW of installed solar, wind and biomass. The INGRID project will provide effective balancing support for the local electricity grid, operated by Enel Distribuzione, by means of a 39 MWh energy storage facility that will combine a 1.2 MW Hydrogenics electrolyser with hydrogen storage up to 1 ton using McPhy solid state technology. Several potential value streams are being considered for the carbon-neutral hydrogen that will be generated at the facility.
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