Towards solid oxide electrolysis plants in 2020

Denmark’s ambitious plan to rapidly increase the fraction of renewable energy supply towards 100 % over the coming 35 years will lead to huge changes in the electricity grid and a need for large-scale energy storage due to the intermittent nature of wind and solar power. Solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) are a unique energy conversion technology that can provide regulating services to the electrical power grid by efficient storage of electrical energy as fuels, e.g. hydrogen and methane. Gaseous fuel products can be further converted to liquid hydrocarbon fuels and used as drop-in replacements in existing fuel infrastructure. The fuels can be converted back to electricity by running the SOEC in the reverse power generation mode. The goal of the proposed project is to further improve performance and durability of SOEC cells and stacks targeting applications specifically for regulating the future Danish power system with a high amount of fluctuating renewable energies, and at the same time enhance the cost competitiveness and environmental friendliness of the SOEC technology, with an ultimate goal of making the SOEC technology ready as a key player in the transition to renewable energy available from around 2020.