Aragon Hydrogen Foundation’s Technicians visit the Bachimaña hut

On Wednesday, June 14, two technicians of the Aragon Hydrogen Foundation  went to the refuge of Bachimaña to carry out activities framed in the project SUSTAINHUTS. The FHa colleagues measured the basal electricity consumption of the shelter as well as that of their main consumers (dishwashers and oven, both three-phase).

Another important consumer, especially in winter, are the electric heaters that the refuge has installed recently to take advantage to the maximum the energetic surplus that finds in winter in the hydraulic turbine.

Another important consumer especially in winter are the electric heaters that the refuge has installed recently to take advantage of the maximize energy surplus that the hut has in winter from the hydraulic turbine.

During the visit, the technicians installed an equipment that will continuously record the electrical consumption in order to establish a reference that allows the sizing of the hydrogen cycle to be installed in that refuge. This hydrogen cycle is composed of an electrolyser for the generation of hydrogen with the energetic surplus of the hydraulic turbine, a storage system, and a fuel cell that will allow to supply electricity to the refuge thanks to the hydrogen stored when the water level of the reservoir Do not allow the turbine to operate (this situation is usually given a couple of months a year, between April and June, until the thaw starts). This approach will reduce the pollutant emissions of diesel groups that supply the energy to the shelter when the turbine can not operate due to water shortage in the reservoir, making the shelter more sustainable.

In order to design all these elements, it is essential to know the daily consumption profile of the shelter. After a representative period of registration of this information, the data will be analyzed and the components of the hydrogen cycle will be proposed, with the intention of installing it throughout 2018, according to the plan envisaged in the project.