From left: Niels Fog (Energinet.dk), Brian Vad Mathiesen (AAU), Ming Chen (DTU Energy), Peter Blennow (Haldor Topsøe). Photo: Torben Skjøtt (Energinet.dk)

Electrolysis research receives prize for best project

Energy Electricity supply Energy storage Energy systems

Senior scientist Ming Chen from DTU Energy has received the ForskEL-prize 2016 for his project “Solid Oxide Electrolysis for Grid Balancing” which represents an important step towards the use of electrolysis for energy storage in the Danish energy system in the future.

At the annual Danish energy research conference, EnergiForsk16, the ForskEL-prize 2016 was presented to senior scientist Ming Chen and his project partners from Aalborg University and Haldor Topsøe A/S. This prestigious award is given for the best completed energy research project funded by the ForskEL programme.

"We are dealing with a project that has delivered on two important parameters: skilled project management and skilled technical performance"
Niels Fog (chairman of the board, Energinet.dk)

Denmark has an ambitious plan to increase the fraction of renewable energy supply towards 100% over the coming decades. This will mean large changes in the electricity grid, and in particular it will lead to a need for large-scale energy storage due to the intermittent nature of wind and solar power. Solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOEC) are a promising technology for both energy storage and synthetic fuel production, and it has a unique potential for grid regulation in the Danish power system. The purpose of the project “Solid Oxide Electrolysis for Grid Balancing” was to improve the performance and durability of the technology targeting applications for regulating the future Danish electricity grid. The three project partners have been working closely on solving critical research issues for the upscale to the MW level of the technology over the next 5-10 years.

Niels Fog, chairman of the board of Energinet.dk, gave a speech motivating the award, emphasizing not only the progress in technology and market preparation achieved but also the high quality of the project management and the good cooperation between universities and business.

In his acceptance speech Ming Chen thanked Energinet.dk for its support over the last 10 years which has enabled the project partners to develop SOEC technology to the point where it is ready for early demonstration. This could not have been done without the funding from ForskEL.