A unique facility has been developed that uses electricity from wind turbines for producing and storing pure hydrogen. It has been launched recently by Xcel Energy and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
The US$2 million facility links devices called ‘electrolyzers’ to two wind turbines. The device passes the electricity generated by the wind through water, splitting the liquid into hydrogen and oxygen.
This hydrogen produced can be stored for later usage. It generates electricity from either an internal combustion engine turning a generator or from a fuel cell. The whole process is environment-friendly, as there are no harmful emissions in the hydrogen production process as the only by-product from using the hydrogen fuel is water.
