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Haeolus in a nutshell

The Project in Brief

Haeolus is a EU project that proposes a new-generation electrolyser integrated within a state-of-the-art wind farm in a remote area with access to a weak power grid.
Haeolus will demonstrate multiple control systems, to answer the specific challenges of the three main modes of operation identified by the International Energy Agency:

  • Electricity storage
  • Mini-grid
  • Fuel production

For each of these modes, new operating strategies will be developed, optimizing operation concerning uncertain weather and power-price forecastsbut also constraints of the specific operating mode.
In addition, Haeolus’ demonstration shall be completely remotely controlled and monitored, due to the remoteness of the selected location and its difficult accessibility in winter; this is a characteristic of many wind farms.

The Objectives

More Wind Power

More Wind Power

Haeolus shall demonstrate several control strategies allowing wind-hydrogen integration, reducing the unpredictability of power produced by a wind farm, and thereby enabling much higher rates of renewable energy penetration in the European grid.

Use Cases

Use Cases

Haeolus will develop and test control strategies for each mode of operation for wind-hydrogen systems: energy storage, mini-grid and fuel production. The results will be relevant to many wind farms across Europe and worldwide.

2,5 MW Electrolyser

2,5 MW Electrolyser

Haeolus will demonstrate for the first time a 2,5 MW PEM electrolyser with a single-cell stack: a unique PEM cell stack, developed by Hydrogenics, will contain up to 420 cells. We will analyse the data from this electrolyser and benchmark against the results from other EU projects.

Remote Operation

Remote Operation

Very often, wind parks are in inaccessible regions—as is the case for our site of Raggovidda, Norway. Haeolus will demonstrate the ability to run a wind-hydrogen system in a remotely controlled setup, with only occasional on-site maintenance.

Dissemination

Dissemination

Haeolus will deliver public reports with analyses of business-case, techno-economical factors, environmental impact, impact on the European energy system, and a technology roadmap towards the MAWP 2013 targets.

"The best way to predict the future is to create it"

ALAN KAY

In the News

Grid services and electrolysers

How much money can be made by an electrolyser providing balancing services to the grid? Haeolus researchers have recently published an article detailing just that, and there are some unexpected results.

The article has been published in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy and is available from this link (open access).

Read More

Haeolus publication targets achieved!

More than a year ahead of the conclusion of the project, the publication targets of Haeolus have been achieved, with six conference contributions and three peer-reviewed journal articles.

Read More

Livestream Goes Live!

The Haeolus data platform has now been made available for the public. During operation, it will be possible to monitor critical parameters of our units as they adapt to the actual wind production according to our control algorithms.

For now, the page is fairly quiet, but will be more lively when long-term tests will start. See our Livestream page for how to log in to the server.

"When the winds of change blow, some people build walls, others build windmills"

Old Chinese proverb

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