The INGRID project: Development of Smart Grids for Hydrogen Energy

With a mandate to reach 20/20/20 targets, new strategies are now focusing on the increased use of electricity to power transportation. One of the current main challenges in green-power storage and smart grids is the lack of effective solutions for accommodating the unbalance between renewable energy sources, that offer intermittent electricity supply, and a variable electricity demand. Energy management systems have to be foreseen for the near future, while they still represent a major challenge. Integrating intermittent renewable energy sources, by safe and cost-effective energy storage systems based on solid state hydrogen is today achievable thanks to recently some technology breakthroughs. Coupled with electrolyzer technology, high-capacity solid-state storage of green-hydrogen is therefore practicable to sustain integration, monitoring and control of large quantity of GWh from high capacity renewable generation in the EU. The 23.9 MLN Euros INGRID European project started in July 2012 combines solid-state high-density hydrogen storage systems with advanced ICT technologies to intelligently interconnect miscellaneous energy networks (i.e. electricity and gas), to safely transport and deliver green-hydrogen to various existing or forthcoming markets, to serve green-urban utilities. Particularly in major urban areas of the EU, capillary use of electric vehicles are being encouraged, however, as these vehicles will be powered by the grid, there is always the risk that load peaks will occur. One solution INGRID project intend to assess is an off-grid utility to store renewable electricity captured from wind sources and re-charge for full battery electric cars.