(Karratha / Australia) - Yokogawa Australia, a subsidiary of the Japanese energy supplier Yokogawa Electric Corp., is developing an energy management system (EMS) for the Australian “Yuri Green Hydrogen” project. Its location is near Karratha in the Pilbara region in the northeast of the Australian state of Western Australia. The future operator Yuri Operations Pty Ltd is a joint venture between Engie Renewables Australia Pty Ltd and Mitsui & Co Ltd. (28 percent).
The systems planned there include an 18 megawatt solar power plant, an eight megawatt battery storage system (BESS) and an electrolyzer with a capacity of ten megawatts. A consortium of engineering service providers Technip Energies NV (Netherlands) and Monford Group Pty Ltd. was responsible for the planning, procurement, construction and commissioning (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning, EPCC). (Australia).
Monford is responsible for the construction of the entire project as well as the operation of the solar farm. Technip Energies acts as project manager and is responsible for the planning, procurement, commissioning and operation of the electrolysis.
Ammonia for Yara
The solar power will be used to produce 640 tons of green hydrogen per year after the first of four planned expansion phases have been completed. The energy source, in turn, serves as the basis for the production of green ammonia in a neighboring ammonia plant operated by Yara Pilbara Fertilizer Pty Ltd (YPF), a subsidiary of the Norwegian Yara International ASA, one of the world's largest producers of nitrogen-based mineral fertilizers.
The four expansion phases of the Yuri project. The hydrogen produced here is primarily used to produce ammonia. The project could be expanded into the “Pilbara Hydrogen Hub” by 2030. Excess hydrogen will then be fed into the nearby Dampier-Bunbury natural gas pipeline. The energy source can also supply road vehicles and trucks used in mines and can be exported via the port of Dampier in liquid form or as a chemical compound. © Engie / Yara
The Yuri plan looks at one created in 2020 Study plans to expand the systems by 2030: initially with an expansion of the electrolysis to a capacity of up to 500 megawatts, there could be a further 1.000 megawatts by 2028 and another 2030 megawatts by 500. The focus is always on ammonia production. However, surpluses will be fed into a natural gas pipeline, used as truck fuel or exported via the port of Dampier.
PXiSE Energy Solutions LLC, part of the Yokogawa Group, supplies an energy management system for the solar power plant, BESS and electrolyzer, which autonomously controls the generation of electricity from renewable energies and their use in the Yuri plant. This ensures consistent stability and power quality, tailored to the operating requirements of the neighboring ammonia plant, weather conditions and other factors.
Autonomous energy generation already tested
Decentralized hybrid power plant “Onslow Distributed Energy Resource” to power an island grid. © PXiSE Energy Solutions LLC
The autonomous interaction of solar power production and storage using PXiSE's EMS has already been tested in another project in the remote 850-person community of Onslow on the coast of Western Australia. The “Onslow Distributed Energy Resource” project (DER) includes a conventional natural gas power plant with an installed capacity of eight megawatts and a one megawatt solar system plus battery storage (1 MW / 1 MWh).
The city did not need any electricity from its fossil power plant during the test phase. “Onslow’s experience shows that it is possible for communities to become fully solar and storage powered,” PXiSE concluded at the time. Such a model could be “applied in any area to switch to 100 percent renewable energy.”
The final work was completed in Denham at the end of 2022: The electricity produced using fuel cells is fed into an island grid and supplies some of the private households and companies in the town of Denham in the state of Western Australia. © Hybrid Systems Australia
Eight hours' drive further south in Denham, Shark Bay, on the far west coast of the continent, is another Demonstration projectt of solar-generated hydrogen is stored and used to generate electricity. The system there consists of a 348-kilowatt electrolyzer along with hydrogen compression and storage. A 704 kilowatt PV system supplies the electricity for hydrogen production. There is also a 100-kilowatt fuel cell for reconversion into electricity.
The capacity of the island network is 526 megawatt hours, which, according to the Australian Energy Agency ARENA (Australian Renewable Energy Agency), is enough to supply 100 homes in the port town with around 700 residents. The yield corresponds to around 20 percent of private and industrial electricity requirements and replaces around 140.000 liters of diesel fuel from the electricity generators previously used.
The state energy supplier Horizon Power commissioned the Yokogawa subsidiary PXiSE to develop a network control solution (Distributed Energy Resource Management System, DERMS) in both projects. After the successful introduction of the demo systems, Horizon Power wants to install this solution for 34 additional microgrids located far away from the power lines in its supply area.
Photos
In a joint venture, Engie Renewables Australia and Mitsui are planning to build a hydrogen factory in Australia with electrolysers, storage and a PV power plant. © Engie SA
