Stakeholder session “Local energy community as small hydrogen valley – H2LEC” – wrap-up and conclusions

Stakeholder session “Local energy community as small hydrogen valley – H2LEC” – wrap-up and conclusions

Local energy community (LEC) is a vertically nested system in energy supply and an ecosystem with joint values and objectives. On-site integrated hydrogen-based systems connected to the grid, consisting of electrolyzer, hydrogen storage and fuel cell system – hydrogen prosumers – provide efficient balancing of local energy consumption and local production of renewable energy that can be extended over annual cycles. There is no transport of hydrogen needed. Thus, H2LEC – Local energy community with hydrogen prosumers – represents the carrier of dispersed energy (and hydrogen) production as a complement of concentrated energy and hydrogen production: on average, H2LEC will achieve at least 75% self-supply.  Additionally, with Combined Heat-and-Power systems, coupling to thermal system adds to energy efficiency.

                     

StaadtWerk Wunsiedel – LEC with green H2 and district heating concept

H2LEC represents a virtual socio-economic system based on community values and thus engaging initiative, innovation and capital of local actors, in particular new technology start-ups and young generations. It brings in the energy supply system new players – prosumers, who actively trade their flexibilities among themselves and on the external markets, and stimulate new enabling technologies, notably automated close-to-real time trading, boosting end-to-end automated solutions.

H2LEC create the need and the market for smaller integrated hydrogen-based systems ranging from a few kWe for residential homes to a few MWe units for larger industrial companies, with compete range of sizes in between for public and tertiary buildings and smaller enterprises. Thus they provide an opening for participation of SMEs in international value chains and predictively create a strong complementary bottom-up pillar in energy and hydrogen supply system in Europe.

The solutions and systems for H2LEC are in innovation cycle and appearing in actual environment; the H2LEC are in the making, as witnessed by SWW (www.s-w-w.com).  They face several hurdles and challenges; these include regulations and resistance to change by the vertically integrated energy sector; and financing, in particular in innovation cycle and early operation phase.

Nilsson Energy – decentralised energy system based on green H2 – Pre-school Mariestad – Sweden

A specific challenge is how to create business models that will sustainably drive the H2LEC as a virtual business system.  A systemic booster to these challenges are the efforts to further harmonize the electricity supply system by upgrading the Harmonized Electricity Market Roles Model, which represents the framework for national regulations; a necessary concomitant is focused financial support. An important activity is sharing the knowledge and good practice gained by the front-runners.

Moderator:

Speakers stakeholders:

Agenda

  • Demostration Example of H2LEC in the making– Operating Pilot Facility, trading model, roadmap to full LEC
  • Green Hydrogen prosumer – the necessary building block to optimize the system (on annual cycle), basic approach to planning (local RES production vs. consumption, with thermal energy coupling)
  • H2LEC as subsystem in vertically structured energy system – concentrated vs. dispersed energy production, Smart electricity market system – Automated trading of energy flexibilities by the prosumers, green hydrogen prosumer in smart grid.
  • Decentralized onsite hydrogen production planning and testing, for Use case oriented development and testing scenarios with compact stationary applications

Recording of the session is available on the 4th MRS Week website and Vimeo.