Hydrogen Valley makes a living by connecting different parts of the hydrogen value chain for their customers. Director Søren Bjerregaard Pedersen: “It is our profession to bring Power-to-X projects out of the desk drawer and into life.”

At Majsmarken nummer 1 in Hobro is Danmark’s only Hydrogen Valley. Søren Bjerregård Pedersen, director of Hydrogen Valley, explains that the location is not random: “We are located right in the middle of the electric motorway with the high-voltage grid very close. We have a really nice district heating network, and in addition we have the best options for hydrogen storage in salt caverns close by. When you connect the high-voltage and district heating network together with the size of the caverns, we are right in the sweet spot when it comes to hydrogen.”

The line of reasoning: The fact that you are constantly looking for opportunities to link different sectors is very characteristic of Hydrogen Valley’s way of working when it, as a project company, assists customers in getting their Power-to-X (PtX) projects transferred from the idea phase to reality.

Søren: “There has been an incredible amount of talk about PtX for the last 15 years, and our attitude has always been that we must carry out its potentials. For example, when we get a customer in who wants to carry out a PtX project, we make sure to make a business case on it, a financing plan, the initial concept design, and then we make sure to get the financing needed. In that way we can bring the project to reality.”

Billede: Hydrogen Valley

Hydrogen is the backbone

“When we came up with the name Hydrogen Valley in 2006, there were no other hydrogen valleys. That has now changed, and now we form a network of 31 hydrogen valleys spread over 17 countries in Europe,” says Søren, and continues:

“We see hydrogen as the backbone when we connect the various sectors within the Power-to-X chain. Our goal is always to create results that can be used in the world we live in.”

In practice, this means that Hydrogen Valley’s employees combine scientific and technical knowledge with lots of practical experience. Søren: “We now have several years of experience with how a MW scale system works in practice. We find answers to questions such as: How often do problems occur, what happens when these problems occur, how should the piping be, etc.?”

Success stories

Among the project that have helped to provide insights into how the systems can be optimized areHyBalance and Power2Met, Søren says. HyBalance is a project that demonstrates the use of green hydrogen in the energy system of the future. he production of hydrogen takes place through water-based electrolysis, which makes it possible to store excess electricity from windmills. This helps to balance the electricity grid, and the hydrogen can be used in industry and in the transport sector.

Power2Met builds on the experience from the HyBalance plant and is a spin-off from a project that Hydrogen Valley made in collaboration with Aalborg University. The purpose of Power2Met is to design and build a pilot plant for a complete electric-to-methanol plant. By utilizing CO2 and hydrogen in a synthesis process, the plant produces eMethanol.

Video: Hydrogen Valley

Equipping others

Although the experiences are many, and more and more PtX-enthusiastic companies are tapping into Hydrogen Valley, Hydrogen Valley is busy: “We are constantly trying to be at the forefront of development and create the facilities that have potential in the long run. ”This means, among other things, that Hydrogen Valley is working on solutions that can meet an increasing hydrogen demand among end users, but also that the company advises others on how they can achieve the upscaling of hydrogen production: “We have very few trade secrets, in fact on the contrary: We try to share our knowledge and equip others so that we can scale up together,” says Søren.

Billede: Hydrogen Valley

In order for hydrogen production to scale up, there is – in addition to the need for knowledge sharing and exchange of practical experiences – also need for regulatory measures, Søren believes: “It is extremely important that hydrogen can not only be described as green if it comes from a windmill connected directly to the electrolysis plant. We need to be able to certify hydrogen as green if it is produced from electricity from the collective electricity grid at a time when the electricity is produced by windmills – e.g. in the night. In this way, hydrogen production can also help to balance the electricity grid and help optimize the utilization of windmills. ”An upscaling of hydrogen production also requires the establishment of a dedicated hydrogen network for the transport of hydrogen, which can link the storage of hydrogen in salt caverns with distribution to the rest of Denmark, and potentially other parts of the EU.”

Once in place, Hydrogen Valley is already ready to take the next, natural step in the company’s development: “We are clearly looking at exporting our business model with concept design and modeling tools to other countries, because we do not just have to gather the value chain across Denmark, but also across Europe.”

About Hydrogen Valley

Hydrogen Valley is a project company founded in 2006. Hydrogen Valley uncovers the potential of Power-to-X considerations in companies with PtX ambitions, and translates project ideas into execution. The eight employees do this by developing business models and concepts, and by uncovering opportunities for partnerships and financing.

Read more here: Hydrogen Valley