Hydrogen energy specialist from France, HDF Energy has secured a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with compatriot utility EDF for what it calls as the world's 1st multi-MW hydrogen power plant and the largest green hydrogen storage (128 MWh) of intermittent electricity sources, in French Guiana.
HDF Energy believes it is the 1st time that a renewable energy project will supply power to the grid through a capacity-based PPA, which is usually applied for thermal power plants, thereby guaranteeing the availability and stability of electricity produced.
Explaining the importance of this project, HDF Energy said it is designed to supply 100% renewable, stable and dispatchable power to 10,000 households at cost lower than the diesel power plant. The Renewstable Power Plant, as it refers to the project, optimizes and brings together a solar park, a hydrogen long-term energy storage and a battery for short-term energy storage, to produce baseload power 24×7.
The Centrale Electrique de l'Ouest Guyanais (CEOG) project was back in September 2018 was touted to have 55 MW solar PV park with 140 MWh of hydrogen based renewable energy storage capacity, along with battery backup storage (see Investment Firm Acquires Share in PV-Hydrogen Park).
The $200 million project is now under construction by the consortium that also comprises infrastructure fund Meridiam and petroleum company SARA of Rubis Group.
While HDF Energy itself will supply multi-MW hydrogen fuel cells, French electrolyzer producer McPhy will supply 16 MW of its high-power systems. It said this would be the 1st outdoor configuration of its alkaline electrolysis, 'ideal for installation in hard-to-reach geographical areas'. McPhy plans to have it commissioned in 2024.
HDF Energy claims to have identified a pipeline of $3 billion for similar projects in some 20 nations including Mexico, Caribbean Island nations, Southern Africa, Indonesia and Australia.