Project

Accelerating the digital innovation in the PtX energy sector and its related sectors requires considering all stakeholders in the development of digital ecosystem solutions for efficient sector coupling in PtX value chains.
The project will investigate the potential and possibilities of purchasing electricity from large-scale offshore wind and energy islands for use in a regional ecosystem with sector coupling solutions, PtX production and infrastructure. The project will build knowledge, uncover commercial opportunities and screen for business potential and skills needed to build and run the ecosystem.

HVDC offshore wind farms with MVDC power collection have recently aroused researchers' interest as these systems offer lower losses and fabrication expenses. Numerous potential MVDC converters could be used in the power collection stage of offshore wind farms; however, when it comes to the technology level, these DC/DC converters are still immature since no substantial studies concerning their control exist. Thus, this Ph.D. project aims to address the research gap to enhance the performance as well as the efficiency of an MVDC converter. The novel switching and control technique proposed in this project together with the significant features of wide bandgap switches provide the condition based on which the MVDC converter could operate at higher switching frequencies than what is already possible. Hence, the controlled MVDC converter will be smaller in size and lighter in weight compared to the conventional ones which reduces the LCOE and provides better possibilities for modularity.

This project includes modelling, designing and testing of a 150 kW solid-oxide electrolysis (SOE) system for renewable hydrogen production. The produced hydrogen can be used as a component for future green electro-fuels like ammonia or methanol.

The SOC stacks will be operated by the novel AC:DC control method which enables dynamic hydrogen production due to fluctuating electricity production from wind turbines.

The AC:DC method requires bi-directional power flow of the stacks and dedicated power electronic converters will therefore be developed in this project as well.

When the project is successfully completed, the consortium will have demonstrated manufacturing and operation of a power-to-X plant with AC:DC operation technology. This is an important milestone on the path for megawatt production.

Description
100 kW EXOWAVE wave energy testing in Hanstholm.

Key results
• Design, build and demonstrate an Exowave wave energy converter (WEC) block at a 14-meter water depth in the Danish North Sea in conjunction with a hydro turbine driven electrical generator connected to the grid. The power generation would be +100 kW.
• Include learnings from EUDP1: numerical model verified by tank test (AAU) and CFD analysis (Delft University), feasibility study: wind and wave plant in very large scale, WEC detailed design and engineering, FAT and demonstration at DanWEC site.
• Assess the environmental impact and improve animal life by shaping the WEC foundation for fish breeding grounds.
• Life cycle analysis and include eco-friendly materials as waste materials from wind turbine blade waste materials.
• Assess supply chain in the North Sea region with special focus in Denmark and its raw material, production facilities, knowledge provider for fulfilling the aim above LOI target and support the Danish national energy target in 2030 and 2050. And to include the results in the design phase. The overall KPI here is to lower LCOE.
• TRL improve from 6 to 7

This Bubble Project aims to assess the feasibility of revamping offshore oil and gas infrastructures transforming them into units producing methane from wind power.

Turkey is one of the fastest-growing energy markets in the world, with an annual 8% increase in energy demand. By the end of 2018, the total installed capacity and electricity production of Turkey was 88.5 GW and 300.7 TWh, respectively. Nowadays, more than 70% of all electricity production is supplied by fossil resources, and almost 30% of all electricity production comes from renewables, mainly hydro, while wind constitutes only 6.6% of the total electricity mix.

The wind and solar energy rate in total consumption are planned to be increased by at least 30% in the coming five years according to the 2023 vision plan of Turkey. However, due to the intermittent nature of wind energy, large-scale wind power integration may pose some serious challenges to Turkey's power system. Therefore, planning analysis and designing efforts are required to ensure the smooth, secure and reliable operation of Turkey's power system and electricity markets considering large-scale wind power integration. WindFlag aims to solve relevant challenges of large scale OWPP deployment and integration into the Turkish grid, such as extreme weak-grid situations, islanding conditions, and large harmonics and resonances.

The purpose of the project is to analyze and develop models for describing the interaction of wind turbines and wind farms with other electricity production units and to analyze their properties with a view to power and frequency control and co-responsibility for system stability. Furthermore, the project will create a basis for assessing the limit for the share of wind energy in the Danish electricity system. The models will thus be able to analyze electricity systems with wind turbines, central power plants, combined heat and power units and energy storage, including the use of compensation units, etc. The project focuses on preparing the models from the transmission level, where in particular the expansion with large wind farms (onshore or offshore) and the problem of how the energy is to be transported to land from offshore farms (AC or DC transmission) are of interest. Through the project, models of the transmission network (AC and DC) with associated central combined heat and power units and loads and where the production from the decentralized combined heat and power plants is viewed from the transmission level will be built and implemented. Models of larger wind farms with different control strategies will be connected to this model. The models include and implement protection equipment and strategies for stability analysis. Wind farms with different generator/converter topologies are modeled and control strategies for power participation or frequency regulation on the grid are compared and optimized for production capability and/or stability conditions. The project is funded as a PSO project from Elkraft System and is being prepared by Birgitte Bak-Jensen, Zhe Chen and Hans Nielsen, Department of Energy Engineering, Aalborg University, Anca Hansen and Poul Sørensen, Risø, and Jesper Hjerrild, Elsam Engineering. In connection with the project, a Ph.D project is also being prepared by Akarin Suwannarat with the title Integration and control of wind farms in the Danish electricity system (see this).

To further develop existing theoretical understanding on the concept of sustainable biomass with GHG neutrality when applied with a holistic integration across sectors

To coordinate the use of novel solutions to negative emissions (carbon storage solutions) across different sectors based on carbon captured in biomass, from point source emissions, and directly from the atmosphere

To develop crosscutting society system analysis methodologies, tools, and models allowing for an overarching holistic co-optimization of the carbon balance across all sectors of agriculture, forestry, energy, transport, industry, buildings, waste management, and materials

To use these models on the assessment and development of a sustainable co-optimized carbon management strategy for green fuels in the green transition of Denmark

To create an understanding of sustainable biomass availability and of the holistic carbon balance of a net zero society on the global scale to reveal the techno-economic feasibility of solutions, models and system designs and their scalability and applicability as models for a global climate solution.