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Researchers in Qatar have proposed a solar-powered freeze desalination and electrolysis system for freshwater and green hydrogen production, while BP says it has made a final investment decision for its 100 MW Lingen Green Hydrogen project in Germany.
Hamad Bin Khalifa University researchers have proposed a standalone solar-powered freeze desalination and electrolysis system to produce freshwater and green hydrogen from brackish groundwater in remote desert regions. They used a 10,456 m² system with ice storage air conditioning, metal hydride canisters for hydrogen storage, and a fuel cell to manage solar irradiation fluctuations. They told pv magazine that the “system features unique integration of bifacial photovoltaics, brackish groundwater production, freeze desalination with ice storage air conditioning, green hydrogen production, storage, and fuel cell, thermally coupled with hydrogen storage canisters,” in order to support agricultural activities in hot desert environments. Researcher Nurettin Sezer said the system uses LaNi5 as a storage medium. They deployed bifacial modules with 23.6% efficiency, a PEM water electrolyzer with 74.5% and 58.8% voltaic and energetic efficiency, and a fuel cell with 64.6% and 62.5% voltaic and energetic efficiency. They said in a recent study in Desalination that the system generates 2.4 MWh/day of electricity, 52.8 m³/day of fresh water, 6.3 MWh/day of air conditioning, and 177 kg/day of hydrogen for nighttime energy storage. It achieved 17.8% energy and 13.5% exergy efficiency during the day, and 56% energy and 34.9% exergy efficiency at night. Sezer said that while groundwater production, desalination, and ice storage run continuously, the electrolyzer only operates during the day and the fuel cell at night, with additional technoeconomic studies still required.
BP has made a final investment decision (FID) for the “Lingen Green Hydrogen” project in Lower Saxony, Germany, which will be supported by funding from the Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) program. It said the 100 MW plant, located next to its Lingen refinery, is expected to produce up to 11,000 tons of green hydrogen per year and will be directly connected to the hydrogen core network. It plans for the facility to be its largest industrial-scale green hydrogen production plant to date and the first it will fully own and operate.
SunHydrogen has completed a demonstration of its green hydrogen technology at the 1m² scale. In October 2024, it said that its 100 cm² hydrogen modules, manufactured in collaboration with CTF Solar, demonstrated 10.8% solar-to-hydrogen efficiency at the Honda R&D facility in Japan. “With this 1 m² demonstration under our belt, we can begin the site selection process for larger pilot demonstrations,” said Syed Mubeen, SunHydrogens chief scientific officer. |
