The multinational technology Group WILO SE as a global player in the pump sector has created the H2Powerplant system alongside French electrical engineering company Schneider Electric – initially to provide the Wilopark headquarters and factory in Dortmund, Germany, with emergency back-up power supply using green hydrogen. However, it is intended as the basis for a self-sufficient, decentralised and regenerative energy supply network – and was designed for potential expansion enabling self-sufficient energy supply of up to two days.
Wilo’s H2Powerplant was inaugurated several weeks ago and has four core components, with the first being the photovoltaic system on the roof of its Smart Factory and the second, a cluster of 96 AEM Electrolysers supplied by Enapter that use the PV electricity to create up to 10 tonnes of green hydrogen per year. With a 29.8 m-long hydrogen storage tank (pictured; Enapter/LinkedIn_11-10-22), Wilo can achieve short-to-long-term energy storage of up to 520kg on site, and then reconvert the hydrogen to electricity when needed using the fuel cell solution HyFrame® S36 supplied by Proton Motor Fuel Cell GmbH.