Global energy company, EDP Group has launched two business units for exploiting the potential of green hydrogen and energy storage systems.
The H2 Business Unit (H2BU) will serve as the Group’s new arm for the development of green hydrogen projects, and the dedicated storage unit built-in EDPR NA (EDP Renewables North America), will aim to achieve a storage capacity of 1 GW within five years.
“The growing penetration of renewable energy sources increasingly requires integration with storage systems, such as batteries, to provide the necessary flexibility to the electrical system and thus enhance the growth of renewable energy sources themselves,” said Miguel Stilwell de Andrade, CEO, EDP.
“But if we want to meet the goals of carbon neutrality, we will need to use other energy sectors, such as green hydrogen, to respond to sectors where electricity is not a technically viable or economically attractive option. "
Storage unit to aggregate energy storage projects
The objective of the latest move is to strengthen the integration of green hydrogen into EDP Group’s portfolio in a strategic and cross-cutting way and boost investments in renewables. The unit will focus its efforts on green hydrogen in sectors such as the steel industry, chemistry, refineries, and cement as well as long-haul heavy transport with the United States and Europe being its priority markets. This will enable the Group to use the already existing renewable and complement the decarbonization solutions that it offers to its customers.
The H2BU unit will be led by Ana Quelhas, Director of Energy Planning of the EDP Group.
Integrating green hydrogen in EDP portfolio
The business unit dedicated to the development of energy storage technologies, will be associated with EDPR’s operations in the United States and focus on the analysis of storage technology.
The new unit has been created to give shape to EDP’s plan in the US called “Re-charge” which aims to achieve 1 GW in energy storage projects by 2026.
Energy storage and hydrogen initiatives already underway
The Group already has several initiatives underway to explore and test the potential of both green hydrogen and energy storage systems.
In 2018, EDP opened a pioneering facility for the storage of wind power in batteries of the Cobadin wind farm in Romania. It also launched a battery energy storage system with a solar park in Romania in 2019. In the United States, it announced the development of solar project Sonrisa in California, corresponding to a PPA of 200MW and an energy storage capacity of 40 MW.
As for hydrogen, at the international level, EDP is developing the Behyond project -- a partnership between Portugal and Norway to study the feasibility of offshore hydrogen production, and is also involved in creating an European hydrogen market with European Alliance Clean. It currently has a pilot hydrogen production project in Central do Ribatejo, Portugal, with the support of the European Union.By Shraddha Kakade
Asst. Editor, Emerging Technology News.