CEA, the University of Corsica and HELION (Areva Group) launched the January 9 2012, in Ajaccio, the Scientific Research Centre Georges Peri, the platform for research and development and solar energy storage: MYRTLE.
This platform supported by the Territorial Authority of Corsica, the State and Europe aims to experiment and make possible the massive integration of renewable energies in the energy mix of Corsica on the basis of a coupling "Renewable Energies - Hydrogen. "
How to convert energy from the sun, subject to random yields, power source available at any time?
It is to address this issue was born in 2007, the project MYRTLE (renewable hydrogen Mission for the grid integration). After five years of research, the platform MYRTLE born in Ajaccio. The platform consists of a photovoltaic plant, with an installed capacity of about 560 3.700 KWc m2 directly connected to a hydrogen chain, used as a storage medium.
MYRTLE The platform will enable to develop a system and a control strategy to improve the management and stabilization of Corsican grid. Hydrogen, produced and stored, allows power fluctuations intermittent renewable energy integrated into the network.
Specificity of islanders
Corsica's power grid has all the characteristics of island networks of small, sensitive to manufacturing variations, limited capacity of new means of production, with a strong increase in electricity demand. Among the resources used to meet this growing need for energy, renewable energy sources are particularly suited to Ilien context.
Renewables are intermittent energy called for the photovoltaic and wind energy, and energy such warranties regarding hydro, biomass, biogas and geothermal. The intermittent renewables are so named because they are experiencing strong temporal variations, and therefore does not guarantee a continuous supply of power to the network or its balance between production and consumption of electricity.
Today, the use of fossil fuel is important in some sunny regions like Corsica or French overseas territories. The aim of the platform is MYRTLE store energy via an electrolyser, which converts electricity into hydrogen and oxygen during the hours of low consumption. This energy is then returned via a fuel cell, which converts hydrogen and oxygen into electricity on the network during the hours of high consumption, that is to say, the night when the solar panels produce more.
All this in order to effectively limit the use of thermal power plants and to overcome the limit of 30% integration of intermittent renewable energy imposed by the decree of April 23 2008.
Island electricity networks not interconnected with a high level of integration of renewable energy sources require a device for managing the intermittency of these (regulatory, storage).
Hydrogen, produced and stored, allows power fluctuations intermittent renewable energy integrated into the network.
It will examine the system's ability to respond to a peak clipping goal called by the grid (support to the distribution network) and smoothing of the produced photovoltaic power (limit fluctuations and disturbances on the electrical network).
In addition, further work as the study of the aging of materials, systems, but also the comparison of results of simulation software and design ORIENTED with reality may be made. Other operating strategies can be envisaged in order to study their impact on the control system control.
MYRTLE The platform is dedicated to the coupling between a photovoltaic field and a hydrogen string used as a storage medium.
The charge, that is to say the supply to the power grid, maybe in this case powered by the photovoltaic field or the fuel cell via the stored hydrogen. Different operating strategies are developed and implemented in the command control system, but also from simulations obtained through ORIENTED software. This software, developed by the University of Corsica, is dedicated to hybrid systems coupled to a hydrogen chain. This tool simulates the distribution of energy flows over time between different subsystems integrating their characteristic behaviors. As part of MYRTLE, ORIENTED allowed simulation, dimensioning and optimizing the energy system.
Advantages of solar energy and hydrogen coupling vector
The coproduction of electricity and hydrogen - energy carrier - from this solar energy can provide a non-polluting fuel, hydrogen without emitting greenhouse gases.
This technology aims to:
• clipping peak consumption, restoring the evening on the network the stored electrical energy,
• mitigation of production variations related to the passage of clouds, for example,
• limiting surges linked to the strong photovoltaic production in a low consumption context.
In this sense, a MYRTE type system can help to limit the technical constraints related to a massive penetration of photovoltaic energy on the electricity grid.
The heat produced by the fuel cell and electrolyzer will be valued by bringing hot water to adjoining buildings or by heating.
Source: http://www.enerzine.com/1/13272+corse-- ... gene+.html
ps: myrtle is also the most famous water of Corsican life No chance that this is a chance this name!