Spanish natural gas company Enagas, S.A. will be collaborating with local battery storage supplier Ampere Energy to procure renewable hydrogen for self-consumption of its gas factory. The hydrogen be produced using solar power and grid supplied electricity from storage systems.
Both the partners claim this is the first instance of hydrogen injection in a real gas network in Spain.
To begin with, Ampere Energy has installed its Ampere Energy Square S 6.5 storage equipment, with new storage and intelligent energy management solutions, at the regasification plant of Enagas in Cartagena in a pilot project in Murcia. Through this, Enagas will be able to maximize the energy efficiency of the Cartagena gasification plant, reduce its environmental impact and bring down its electricity bill by up to 70%.
Ampere's system will anticipate consumption patterns of the plant, predict the available solar resource and track prices in the electricity market, claim the two, with the help of artificial intelligence equipped software. They stated, "This alliance opens the door to a long-term agreement between Ampere Energy and Enagas to undertake joint R&D projects for energy storage and services."
Spain's neighbor Portugal is contemplating producing green hydrogen in the country with a 1 GW solar power plant, as per some media reports in January 2020 (see Portugal Wants 1 GW Solar To Produce Hydrogen).