ITM Power connects to grid German power-to-gas plant

Dec 4, 2013 - UK energy storage and clean fuel firm ITM Power Plc (LON:ITM) said today it has connected to the German gas distribution grid a 360 kW power-to-gas plant in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse province.

The facility, installed at a site of local utility Mainova AG (ETR:MNV6), was the first to inject hydrogen gas to Germany's gas distribution network, ITM Power said. Commissioning has commenced ahead of schedule.

The Power-to-Gas (P2G) project is jointly developed by 13 companies within the German network of energy companies Thuega Group. Over three-year period ending 2016 they will assess the feasibility of power-to-gas technology. The total investment for the project is estimated at EUR 1.5 million (USD 2m).

The power-to-gas unit converts unused renewable electricity into hydrogen via a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser by ITM and stores it in the gas distribution network. The unit has an output of 3,000 cu m (106,000 cu ft) of hydrogen-enriched natural gas per hour.

ITM Power launched the facility in cooperation with Mainova's subsidiary NRM Netzdienste Rhein-Main GmbH. The latter installed the gas mixing and grid injection infrastructure for the plant. Official commissioning is planned for the beginning of 2014.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.359)

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