Canadian company Ballard Power Systems has received an order for a fuel cell system from CossWind, a joint venture between Eneco and Shell. The system will be integrated in the Hollandse Kust Noord offshore wind project.
The 759 MW Hollandse Kust Noord offshore wind farm, located some 18 km off the Dutch coast at Egmond aan Zee, will generate at least 3.3 TWh per year. This is enough renewable power to supply the equivalent of more than 1 million Dutch households with green electricity. Offshore construction started in October last year.
CrossWind intends to use various new technologies to manage the intermittent wind power generation, including the use of water electrolysis to convert wind power into green hydrogen for energy storage. Ballard’s hydrogen fuel cells will utilize the green hydrogen as fuel to regenerate stable and dispatchable power.
Peak power capacity of 1 MW
Ballard will supply a containerized fuel cell power solution with a peak power capacity of 1 MW, with delivery expected in 2024. This is Ballard’s second stationary power project deployed in Europe for peak shaving power generation applications.
“Hydrogen plays a critical role to support the energy transition. This project is an exciting proof point on how hydrogen and PEM fuel cells can provide an effective storage, load-following and firming solution for intermittent renewables. We are excited to be a part of this milestone demonstration project with CrossWind to prove out the reliability and efficiency of Ballard fuel cells, initially at megawatt scale,” said Søren Østergaard Hansen, General Manager, Marine and Stationary, Ballard Power Systems Europe A/S.
Maria Kalogera, Crosswind’s Innovation Manager commented, “In CrossWind, we are committed to demonstrate baseload power on a megawatt scale for a single full-scale wind turbine generator. We will introduce, for the first time, an offshore combination of battery storage and round-trip hydrogen integrated in an offshore wind farm. It’s exciting to have Ballard on board and integrate their fuel cell solutions in our project.” Bron Ballard Power Systems Image: © Flying Focus
