A consortium of seven partners supported by €13.8 million in financing from the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme for European Research and Innovation are to build a solid state hydrogen storage plant designed to balance power supply and demand of renewable energy installed in the Puglia region of Italy, which employs around 3.5GW of solar, wind and biomass energy resources.
The project, dubbed INGRID was expected to cost a total of €23.9 million, including consortium participation from Italian, ICT technology firm, Engineering Ingegneria Informatica, Agenzia per la tecnologia e l'Innovazione (ARTI, Puglia, Italy), representing the operational arm of Puglia regional authority for the innovation and technology transfer and Enel Distribuzione, Italy's largest utility.
Try Premium for just $1
- Full premium access for the first month at only $1
- Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
- Cancel anytime during the trial period
Premium Benefits
- Expert industry analysis and interviews
- Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
- Exclusive event discounts
Or get the full Premium subscription right away
Or continue reading this article for free
Other firms involved in the project include, Belgium-based hydrogen generator supplier, Hydrogenics and French-based McPhy Energy, which is a developer of solid and safe hydrogen storage. Italian research institution, Ricerca sul Sistema and Spanish research centre Energetico TECNALIA are also taking part in the project.
The consortium is said to responsible for the design, build, deployment of the solid-state high-density hydrogen storage systems and electrolysis technology which is said to be capable of handling 39MWh of energy storage capacity.