Self-Sufficient Thanks to Hydrogen

The project comprises 172 residential units in six buildings. The aim is to make them self-sufficient on heat, hot water and electricity and as energy-efficient as possible right from the start. At the same time, they should provide comfortable living spaces with modern architecture. Together with the Swedish off-grid experts Nilsson Energy AB, the municipality therefore planned to use hydrogen as an efficient source of energy.

Hydrogen is particularly well suited to countries at high latitudes, where photovoltaic installations yield very little energy in the winter months due to the low angle of incidence of the sun. In the summer, hydrogen can be easily produced in an electrolyzer using excess renewable energy and stored in tanks. In the winter, fuel cells can then be used to convert the hydrogen back into electricity for heating in conjunction with heat pumps

The annual consumption of one of the project’s buildings is 35,000 kWh. That includes lighting, lifts, ventilation, hot water production, and heating. In the winter, the project will use a 5 kW fuel cell, but this will only cover the baseload. For higher peak loads, and to enable the use of solar power during summer nights, the houses need storage for electrical energy.

Requirements for a storage solution:

• Powerful storage systems with a high depth of discharge and high number of guaranteed cycles to ensure a sustainable and durable investment
• Easy installation and safe operation in conjunction with the hydrogen cycle