SustainHuts received the electrolyser for Bachimaña hut

The electrolyser for the hydrogen storage which will be installed in Bachimaña hut has been completed and delivered in the Aragon Hydrogen Foundation facilities. Waiting for the delivery of the other two parts expected, related to the hydrogen storage and the fuel cell, this first equipment will be tested and checked by the Foundation technicians before its movement to the hut.

A hydrogen storage system in an Aragonese hut is today closer to be a reality. The first equipment, an electrolyser which will produce hydrogen through electrolysis, arrived at December 17^th to the facilities of the Aragon Hydrogen Foundation partner, the technical developer of the complete storage system. This equipment is based on PEM technology (Proton Exchange Membrane), manufactured by Hidrogena company and its main and more original characteristic is the production of a high quality hydrogen gas at 50 bar pressure. From this point, the test period has started in the FHA facilities in order to ensure the correct operation of the equipment under the weather and operation conditions, especially different in a mountain hut. After it, when the rest of the equipments arrive to the facilities, the complete system will be checked together before moving it to the hut.

An electrolyser is an equipment which produces hydrogen through the electrolysis process, splitting the water molecule into its component, hydrogen and oxygen, and consuming electricity as energy source. The electrolyser proposed for Bachimaña will consume the renewable energy which comes from a hydro turbine installed in the hut vicinity to produce hydrogen as gas, being considered this kind of storage as green and carbon-footprint free thanks to its consumption of renewable electricity. After it, during the months without renewable production in the hut, the hydrogen produced and stocked up in a bottles rack will be consumed in the fuel cell through an equivalent process to the electrolysis, joining the hydrogen and oxygen in order to produce water and electricity for supplying the hut.

The hydrogen technology is an emerging incipient which provides with great advantages related to the seasonal storage of energy, allowing for stocking up a great amount of energy as pressured gas during several months, which is especially interesting in some applications. Thus, an taking into account the energetic characteristics of Bachimaña hut, with a surplus of energy during 10 months per year but without renewable generation during the other two months, this technology acquires a potential relevance due to its possibility of generating hydrogen gas during ten months, consuming it to provide the hut with electricity during the two months without renewable electricity production.

The transportation of all the elements of the hydrogen system has to be unavoidable by helicopter, so it is necessary to wait for the weather conditions to afford this action. Spring 2019 is the time expected to carry out the integration of the system in the hut.