R2P2X Robust Reversible Power-to-X

Power-to-X is considered one of the important technologies to meet climate targets and unleash the potential of offshore wind, both locally in the Danish North Sea and globally. Unfortunately, the most mature electrolysis technologies have limited conversion efficiency, with ca. half the energy lost in the conversion from electric power to green fuels.

The power price constitutes up to 80% of the green fuel production cost. For this reason, it is important to develop electrolysis technologies with a high efficiency so less energy is wasted and the cost of the green fuel is lowered. High temperature electrolysis is a novel technology that can significantly reduce energy loss.

However, the technology is still not fully matured due to limited lifetime. Dynelectro have patented a new operation method that can increase lifetime from around 2 years up to 10 years. This can make high temperature electrolysis the preferred electrolysis technology for large-scale Power-to-X applications.

The R2P2X project aims to construct a 40 kW dynamic electrolyser unit (DEU) and use it for demonstration of robust and reversible hydrogen production. The DEU will be constructed by Dynelectro with a solid oxide electrolysis (SOE) module from Elcogen, operated at Syslab (DTU Risø) and a techno-economic assessment will be performed with input from industrial partners BlueNord and European Energy.

The image showing the preparations for the 40 kW SOE+ module at Dynelectro’s hydrogen facility.

DEU will use Dynelectro’s patented AC:DC technology to enable dynamic operation of the SOE module while improving impurity tolerance and increasing lifetime. AC:DC operated SOE is referred to as SOE+. During e.g. a power outage, the DEU will automatically switch to reversible operation for production of power for system critical components.

Dynelectro’s AC:DC technology  will optimise DEU robustness, enables island operation and can serve to balance the power grid when renewable energy production is low.

The project objectives are:

• Optimize AC:DC operation of Elcogen SOE modules
• Construct a 40kW SOE module
• Install the DEU at DTU Syslab
• Demonstrate dynamic long-term H2 production (+6 months) and island mode operation
• Conduct a techno-economic analysis to determine the most promising strategies for upscaling and implementation

The project will be led by Dynelectro’s Marie Lund Traulsen who joined Dynelectro in 2023. Marie has her PhD in Sustainable Energy from DTU where she has been an Associate Professor. Marie then worked with Danish Decommissioning, the institution for the dismantling of the nuclear facilities at Risø near Copenhagen, Denmark. With 30 publications to her name, and nearly 700 citations, she investigates the combination of spectroscopy and electrochemistry of new materials.

Mission Green Fuels has co-funded the project, along with industrial partners European Energy, Elcogen and BlueNord and achedemia partner, DTU.

Contact Dynelectro if you would like more information about this, or other, projects related to robust and reversible power-to-x energy systems.