Study of the dynamic behaviour of large scale PEM electrolysers in a fast demand response perspective.

Details

Supervisors

Emmanuel De Jaeger

Faculty

Ecole polytechnique de Louvain

Degree label

Master [120] : ingénieur civil électricien, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

In the energy decarbonisation context that we are facing, hydrogen and electrolysers seem to be solutions to many different problems. In this master thesis, we are looking specifically to use electrolysers to help the stability of the electrical power grid. Indeed, this stability depends on the instantaneous balance between the consumed and the produced electrical power. It is therefore necessary to set up devices able to adapt dynamically the electrical power. More precisely, this work studies the possibility of utilizing electrolyser to provide FCR (frequency containment reserve) services. It requires that the electrolyser adapts its power consumption to contribute to the grid balance. It is putting high requirements on the electrolyser dynamic behaviour, which is the capacity to react quickly. The thesis starts by using the scientific literature to build a model representing the electrolyser. To achieve this, a theoretical model for each subsystem is provided and described in detail. The model is then made available for computer simulation of real grid conditions. This is achieved by adapting the recently released MatLab model to the research questions studied. Modifications are made to the electrical supply integrating the electrical dynamic behaviour of the electrolyser, the voltage model modifications, a scale up of the model to reach 1MW and other minor modifications. The resulting model is then validated using several empirical data found in the literature. Time constants are provided for all key aspects of the modeled electrolyser in order to demonstrate its reaction speed. Finally, a simulation studies the dynamic behaviour of modeled electrolyser, if it had been used to provide frequency reserve service to the grid on January 27th 2017. As a conclusion, it is shown that electrolyser is capable of a sub-second stable reaction time.