Napajedle is the first industrial electrolyzer for the production of green hydrogen in the Czech Republic

This week, the Solar Global company in Napajedle in Zlín put into operation the first industrial electrolyzer for the production of green hydrogen in the Czech Republic. The gas produced with the help of a photovoltaic power plant with the support of wind energy will be used in the long-term accumulation of electricity from clean sources, a filling station for hydrogen-powered cars will also be created in the area, said the chairman of the board of directors of the Solar Global group Vítězslav Skopal.

“Green hydrogen makes it possible to accumulate clean energy from renewable sources for a long time, even in the order of months, and thus appropriately complements large-capacity battery storages, which are effective in short-term storage of surpluses from photovoltaics or wind power plants,” said Skopal.

The electrolyser produces 8,000 kilograms of emission-free hydrogen per year, which enables a passenger car to travel 800,000 kilometers or 80,000 kilometers for a hydrogen bus. “We also supplemented the system with battery storage with a capacity of 206 kWh and a power of 100 kW. The green hydrogen is stored in a compensating pressure tank with a capacity of 640 liters,” said Skopal. The company installed the equipment in the spring, and it has been in test operation since June. The costs were roughly 35 million crowns, of which nine million were a subsidy from the Ministry of the Environment, said the chairman of the board. Solar Global wants to use green hydrogen mainly for energy storage.

A filling station for hydrogen-powered cars will also be built in the area within two years. “There are a number of cities that would like to buy hydrogen buses, but they have nowhere to fill them,” said Skopal. Solar Global also wants to have hydrogen-powered cars. In addition to hydrogen, the electrolyser will also produce emission-free oxygen that can be used in industry, the food industry or healthcare. The company is preparing another project near Kolín, where there should be a photovoltaic power plant and an electrolyser, which will be four times larger than the water supply plant.

“Several individual facilities for the production of green hydrogen have recently been established in the Czech Republic, but these are only pilot projects designed to test the practical use of this green gas. Solar Global is the first company in our country that has embarked on the production of green hydrogen on a large industrial scale , has a well-thought-out project economy, the application of technology on the market and a vision of how to make hydrogen an integral part of your business,” said Tomáš Buzrla, executive director of the Union of Modern Energy.

The Minister of the Environment Petr Hladík (KDU-ČSL) also took part in the opening ceremony. “I consider green gas to be a solution that, in addition to batteries, will help to solve surplus electricity from solar and wind power plants in the future. Its gradual use in practice is part of a mosaic of solutions for an economy independent of fossil fuels. Green hydrogen will help to decarbonize industrial enterprises or mass public transport, ” said the minister. According to Hladík, the climate and energy plan, the preparation of which was also participated in by the Ministry of the Environment, envisages hydrogen as a sustainable substitute for natural gas. “In addition, the advantage of green hydrogen is the possibility of production directly in the Czech Republic. Our goal is to produce up to 32,000 tons of hydrogen in 2030,” said Hladík. According to the minister, more green hydrogen projects are being prepared or built in the country. The technology in the commercial part is starting, massive growth in the use of hydrogen is expected between 2030 and 2040, noted Hladík. When the Modernization Fund is changed, a new title should be set aside from it, which will be focused precisely on modern methods of production, logistics, storage, gas stations and the use of hydrogen or biomethane.

The Solar Global group was established in 2009 and has about 150 employees. It is a producer of energy from photovoltaic and other renewable sources. Through its subsidiaries, it provides service to hundreds of power plants, trades in electricity and invests in innovative solutions in the field of so-called green energy.

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