McPhy Energy, a provider of solid hydrogen storage technology, has announced a partnership with the UK’s Nottingham University on the mid-term storage of renewable energy in a residential micro-grid.
The technology will be used in the university’s Creative Energy Homes (CEH) project, which aims to stimulate sustainable design ideas and promote new ways of providing affordable, innovative and environmentally sustainable housing. The McPhy solution will be used for storing surplus solar and wind energy under a new phase of the CEH project, which focuses on greater energy autonomy for the homes via a dedicated micro-grid.
The homes built under the CEH project incorporate a range of low carbon technologies, including renewable micro-generation from solar, wind and ground source heat pumps. The houses have so far operated individually using only the renewable energy generated at that property; however, a multi-home storage solution for surplus energy is needed to cover peak periods, especially after sunset and during periods of little or no wind.
McPhy’s technology allows energy to be stored as solid hydrogen within an MCP-N-4—a magnesium hydride (MgH2)-based storage tank—within the micro-grid. The hydrogen will then be used to feed the fuel cells on an as-needed basis.
Hydrogen has traditionally required high-pressure storage, which presents security concerns; however McPhy’s solution allows it to be stored in its solid state using environmentally friendly, low-cost, readily available and fully-recyclable magnesium hydrides. The company says its solid hydrogen storage tanks are safe, energy neutral, cheap, easily transportable and quickly chargeable and dischargeable—advantages that no other current means of hydrogen storage can lay claim to.
Commenting, Gavin Walker, professor of Sustainable Energy at the University of Nottingham, said: "Having a combination of energy stores will provide a more robust system, with McPhy Energy's solid hydrogen tanks used primarily for mid-term energy storage, and using batteries for short term energy requirements. Determining the best way of using both hydrogen and fuel cells within a micro-grid is an important question that still needs to be addressed."
Pascal Mauberger, CEO of McPhy Energy, added: "McPhy Energy is very pleased that our solid hydrogen storage systems have been chosen for this innovative project. This marks our first foray into the dynamic UK renewable energy market. While we are involved in many industrial-scale projects, we believe Nottingham University's Creative Energy Homes is the first in the world to investigate the use of solid hydrogen as a mid-term solution for energy autonomy on a residential micro-grid scale."
Headquartered in Grenoble, France, McPhy Energy was created in 2008 to industrialise and commercialise an innovative solid hydrogen storage technology using magnesium hydrides. A member of the Tenerrdis cluster—a new energy technologies collaboration designed to boost competitiveness—McPhy Energy is involved as a partner or a subcontractor in several research projects.
