At solar park Vloeivelden Hollandia, hydrogen projectH2 Hollandia is currently being realized. This is unique in scale and because of its combination with the solar farm.
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Novar is currently developing -in cooperation with Avitec and Repowered- hydrogen systemH2 Hollandia at solar park Vloeivelden Hollandia in Nieuw-Buinen. This project is expected to be completed in Q2 of 2024.
Why a hydrogen system?
Hydrogen has very high potential energy, per kilogram, for example, three times more than diesel. This makes it an interesting energy carrier. Partly because of this, we chose to produce 100% green hydrogen using part of the solar energy generated in the adjacent Vloeivelden Hollandia solar park.
Because of the direct connection to the solar farm, the electricity grid is not burdened by hydrogen production. In fact, the hydrogen system uses the solar power before it enters the grid. On sunny days-when the solar farm generates too much energy-the electrolyser can still convert some of this non-deliverable peak into hydrogen. Thus, theH2 Hollandia project can still effectively use almost half of all non-deliverable power for hydrogen production.
How does hydrogen work
Hydrogen is not an energy source, but an energy carrier. An energy source provides more energy than we put into it, such as the sun. An energy carrier uses an energy source to store the energy in another way so that it can be used somewhere else (at a later time). So the latter is the case with hydrogen gas. You can then use the hydrogen for numerous other functions, such as to run cars on it.
How is hydrogen produced?
Hydrogen can be produced in three ways. The method of production leads to gray, blue or green hydrogen. Gray hydrogen is produced by Steam Methane Reforming (SMR). This is the most common production process. In this process, natural gas is used to split methane into hydrogen andCO2.
The production process of blue hydrogen is similar to gray, only here theCO2 produced is captured and stored so it does not enter the atmosphere.
Hydrogen production withoutCO2 emissions leads to green hydrogen. Through a process called "electrolysis," water molecules are split into hydrogen and oxygen.
Green hydrogen byH2 Hollandia
H2 Hollandia produces green hydrogen that is filled on site in tubular trailers. These are trucks with high-pressure cylinders that can be used to transport the hydrogen.H2 Hollandia's customer uses the bottle trailers to transport the hydrogen to the end user. For example, fueling stations for heavy transport. In addition to producing hydrogen, this production process also produces pure oxygen. This can be used to aerate water treatment plants, for example.
Our process
Design
Permit
Funding
Construction
In use
The permit has been arranged and two grants have been awarded. The project is currently in the contractual phase. After the contracts are finalized, the project can be truly realized.
Development grant and DEI+ grant
The permit to realize the hydrogen system has been granted. Due to the expensive technology and high current power prices, it is difficult to realize this project without a subsidy. Therefore, subsidies are needed to makeH2 Hollandia financially feasible.
Currently, two subsidies have been granted. First, the Province of Drenthe is supporting the project with a development grant. This will partially finance the development phase of the project. Furthermore, the Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO) has awarded an investment subsidy to this project. This is the Demonstration Energy and Climate Innovation (DEI+) grant from GroenvermogenNL for hydrogen and green chemistry. Watch the video about the collaboration here.
Next steps for development
The project is now in the contractual phase. There is contact with various parties regarding the sale of the green hydrogen and a tender is in place for which various parties can bid to realize the system.
Once the right contracts are in place, construction can begin. This is not a time-intensive process, but the project does depend on delivery times of the various components. These can sometimes take a very long time.
How does this project contribute to energy transition?
By installing the 5 MW electrolyser at the 115 MWp solar park Vloeivelden, this project produces approximately 300,000 kg of hydrogen per year. This allows us to halve the curtailment (power that cannot be delivered to the grid and is therefore lost) of the solar farm. Currently, four percent of total global energy consumption consists of gray hydrogen. So there is already a market for hydrogen, but currently gray hydrogen is used here. As explained earlier, this production releasesCO2 and contributes to the climate crisis.
By producing green hydrogen with H2 Hollandia , we reduceCO2 emissions and contribute to solving the climate crisis.
The project
H2 Hollandia, an ambitious project in which three parties - Avitec, Repowered and Novar - are sharing their knowledge to work to create a bigger picture. Together, the parties are developing this green hydrogen production plant at Zonnepark Vloeivelden Hollandia in Nieuw-Buinen (Drenthe).
Last edited February 14, 2024
