First Climate Neutral Power Station in The Netherlands
[source] Magnum power station, 8 billion euro, 1.3 GW, high efficiency (58%) natural gas power station that was built from 2009 in Eemshaven in the north of The Netherlands.
A memorandum of understanding has been signed between Statoil, Vattenfall and Gasunie last month. The intention is to convert one of the existing three units of the Magnum power plant in Eemshaven into a facility where hydrogen rather than natural gas will be burned as of 2023. Statoil will produce the hydrogen from natural gas, but will store the resulting CO2 byproduct under ground. This will result in the first climate neutral hydrogen power station in the world (440 MW). Currently Norway is busy constructing a so-called CO2-vault of its west coast and likes to see the Dutch power station in Eemshaven as one of its first customers.
The production of hydrogen from natural gas is merely a temporary solution and must be seen as a preparation for a later stage, when the hydrogen must come from the new offshore wind power stations in the neighboring North Sea, where electricity will be used in an electrolysis process to split water in hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen will be converted into ammonia for easier storage and eventually be burned at Magnum. Hence the description of the power station as an “ammonia battery“.
[statoil.com] – Evaluating conversion of natural gas to hydrogen
[nl.wikipedia.org] – Magnum (energiecentrale)
[volkskrant.nl] – Eerste klimaatneutrale energiecentrale ter wereld komt in Eemshaven
[bellona.org] – First ever climate neutral power plant
[snn.eu] – Aandacht in Den Haag voor noordelijke energie ambities
DeepResource 