The STORE&GO Partner Organizations
ATMOSTAT
ATMOSTAT is a subsidiary of ALCEN group, medium-sized company of one thousand and eight hundred people. ATMOSTAT is recognized for his high level in specific technologies especially for aerospace, defence and energy.
The core role of Atmostat in this project was to develop and deliver modular structured reactors.
CEA French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission
The Liten Institute inside the CEA is one of most important European research centres on new technologies of energy. One laboratory of the Liten is involved in the development of structured reactor for methanation. In the STORE&GO project, the CEA contributed with ATMOSTAT on the development and manufacturing but also on the exploitation of the methanation unit for the Italian site of demonstration. The CEA contributed also in the techno-economic assessment.
Climeworks AG
Climeworks AG (CW) is a spin-off company from ETH Zurich with 60 employees. CW captures CO2 from ambient air ("direct air capture", DAC) with the world’s first commercial carbon dioxide removal technology. The CW technology is based on a cyclic adsorption/desorption process on a patented filter material ("sorbent").
Comune di Troia
Troia municipality is situated in one of the most windy Italian areas. That is the main motivation for hosting a large share of decentralized wind farm, not to mention as well large PV farms, which are directly connected to the power distribution and transmission network. Due to the bottlenecks of the actual electricity grids, these renewable sources are experiencing remarkable curtailments, and that’s the reason why Troia municipality decides to host within their administrative boundaries the INGRID demonstration plant aimed at hydrogen energy storage supporting balance of demand and supply of local distribution system operator (ENEL) while converting the surplus of electricity not consumed locally in hydrogen available for subsequent usages.
TROIA participated into the STORE&GO project as plant operator. They signed a maintenance and customisation agreement with Hydrogenics (electrolyser manifacturer) to adapt the currently available electroliser to the need of the STORE&GO project. They engaged technicians to operate the plant during its demonstration. TROIA also contributed to dissemination activities.
DBI Gas- und Umwelttechnik GmbH
Over the past years, DBI-GUT has evolved into an engineering and research company combining the development of new renewable gaseous fuel technologies and the practical implementation of such technologies in Europe. In this field, DBI GUT developed gas injection systems especially for PtG technology. In STORE&GO DBI GUT was the main partner for the analysis of gas injection into distribution and transport pipeline systems. Based on this work DBI-GUT contributed to WP 5.3 analysis of gas grid integration.
DVGW German Technical and Scientific Association for Gas and Water
DVGW is the reference German institution for the development of technical rules, the associated pre-normative research and certification of gas and water related appliances. It has excellent laboratories for the testing of gas related processes, an unbiased view on PtG and renewable gases and related technologies, which were precious for the STORE&GO demonstration and cross-cutting activities and exploitation plans. The expertise in coordination and management of research projects is high. Established communication tools and media were utilized for the planned dissemination actions. In STORE&GO DVGW was responsible for the overall project management (WP 1) and the dissemination (WP 9). Furthermore, DVGW elaborated monitoring and techno-economic aspects in WP 2 and WP 5.
ECN Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands
Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) is the largest energy research institute in the Netherlands, with around 500 members of staff in Petten, Amsterdam and Eindhoven. ECN is active in projects both in the Netherlands and abroad, in joint efforts with the industry, government authorities and research institutes.
ECN has six core activities: solar power, wind energy, biomass and energy efficiency, environmental assessment, engineering and materials, and policy studies.
In STORE&GO ECN was the main responsible for WP7.1 "Quantification and integration of societal costs including security of supply." Further tasks were in WP7.2, WP5.1 and WP5.2, where ECN contributed its experience with the methanation process and evaluation of technologies.
Electrochaea GmbH
Electrochaea GmbH is developing a disruptive grid-scale energy storage technology that uses a simple and robust bio-catalytic methanation system that can be scalable over a broad range of conversion and storage applications. The patent-pending "BioCat" methanation system converts CO2 and low-cost or stranded electricity into pipeline-grade methane for direct injection into the existing natural gas grid with low operating and capital costs.
Electrochaea designed and oversaw the engineering of a BioCat methanation system to fit the site requirements for STORE&GO at the REG Hybridwerk demonstration plant in Solothurn, Switzerland (WP3.1) and oversaw acquisition and delivery of a the system to the site. Electrochaea assisted the RES team in installation, commissioning and testing of the BioCat system (WP 3.2 and 3.3) and provided training, and assistance for operations and maintenance to the RES staff during the operating phase (WP 3.4).
Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology
Empa is a public research and service institution for materials sciences and technology. Together with partners from industry, Empa turns research results into marketable innovations. As an institution of the ETH Domain, Empa is committed to excellence in all its activities.
Within the scope of various projects Empa conducts investigations on gaseous fuels and the technology Power-to-Gas including the realization of a 0.2 MW demonstration plant called "Future Mobility". The gained knowledge from such projects formed the basis for Empa’s contribution regarding the optimization of the Demo plant in Solothurn (WP3) within STORE&GO. Particularly, the connection of Power-to-Gas to the mobility sector was investigated as it has a strong potential to establish an economically viable operation of Power-to-Gas plants. Empa’s laboratory Automotive Powertrain Technologies has long experience in the field of alternative fuels and mobility.
Energieinstitut an der Johannes Kepler Universität Linz
Energieinstitut (EIL) is a highly distinguished project partner whenever multidisciplinary knowledge of more than one scientific field is essential for energy-related research topics. The combination of core disciplines allows comprehensive analyses and accounts for all aspects of future-oriented energy topics like Power-to-Gas. As a consequence, the Energieinstitut predominantly worked on three dimensions in STORE&GO (1) on the analysis on techno-economical optimization options – learning curves, economics of scale, new technologies/materials, alternative plant structures; (2) on the analysis of social and public acceptance of power-to-gas plants/systems within the European Union and (3) on policy recommendations for Power-to-Gas systems primary focused on SNG production.
Energy Delta Institute
Energy Delta Institute (EDI) is an international energy business school. Through a rich variety of energy education programmes and networking activities we prepare energy professionals for challenges they face in their dynamic environment.
EDI was founded in 2002 by GasTerra B.V., N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie, OAO Gazprom, Shell and the University of Groningen, later joined by A.Hak and EBN. EDI brings together world-class knowledge and business skills to educate energy professionals to become the future leaders of the energy industry. Our programmes and events for starter, midcareer professionals and senior management focus on the economic, managerial, regulatory and geopolitical aspects of the energy business.
EDI brings together world-class knowledge and business skills to educate energy professionals to become the future leaders of the energy industry. EDI was responsible for the WP9.4 concerning Education and Training.
Energy Valley
The Energy Valley Foundation is a regional cluster-organisation focusing on the development of the energy sector and especially the transition to a sustainable energy economy. The Foundation is closely involved in the large scale and R&D PtG initiatives in the Energy Valley Region. Gas quality is an important issue in all Energy Valley programmes, especially since the Energy Valley Region has a strong position in gas trading and green gas production. Activities lie in coordination of R&D and investment programmes. In STORE&GO Energy Valley participated in the market uptake (WP6.4). In this WP the responsibilities were in the connection with the active PtG network and the companies and research institutions that are active in gas related industry. Most important tasks were the establishment of exchange of knowledge and experience between the ongoing research in the project and the companies.
Engineering Ingegneria Informatica SPA
As leader of the WP 4 Engineering took over responsibility for the necessary adaptation and evolution of the INGRID demo site to integrate with the carbon capture from the atmosphere and with the methanation reactor. In that respect Engineering specifically adapted the monitoring and control system to the proposed facility with a view to provide innovative optimization policies where the storage node was aimed at deploying demand and supply balancing services to the power grid operator.
EPFL Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
EPFL is one of the leading technical universities in Europe and hosts an important number of renowned laboratories devoted to energy research. EPFL is particularly active in the field of energy storage (by way of hydrogen and synthetic fuels among other routes such as PSP or CAES), both experimentally, as well as through process engineering integration and optimization methods.
In STORE&GO, EPFL was responsible for evaluation of the Swiss demo plant (in particular for hydrogen-related equipment) in WP3 and for the LCA analysis and overall energy integration analysis of storage options in WP5.
GWI Gas- und Wärme-Institut Essen e. V.
The non-profit association GWI is an applied science institute dedicated to all fields of natural gas and heat technology from the domestic to the industrial application. In addition to its classical expertise on natural gas combustion technologies GWI intensely studies P2G, biogas, LNG, CHP and fuel cells in the recent years. Within STORE&GO GWI was responsible for GIS-based regional analysis of the P2G potential in the EU. The results of calculations within WP8 were presented as demonstrative maps that were utilized within all cross-cutting WPs and for dissemination (WP9) of the STORE&GO project.
Hanze University of Applied Sciences
EnTranCe research centre of the Hanze University of Applied Sciences (HUAS) is located in Groningen, Assen, Leeuwarden and Amsterdam is recognized as the centre of excellence and fills the gap between application-oriented knowledge in the area of energy (e.g. the approach of technology, economics, sociology, and environmentology and business management). EnTranCe specialized in Power-to- Gas innovation related to grid balancing. In STORE&GO HANZE was mainly responsible for market uptake of Methane in the entire PtG production chain depend to a large extent on the efficient integration of the electricity and gas grid. This was achieved through applied research, and high-quality research and testing by professors and PhD students. When conducting this research, the Research Centre Energy utilized and shared resources in the Northern region of the Netherlands, the EU and worldwide. HANZE received a Center of Expertise award for its progress in the field of energy by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science in 2012.
HSR Hochschule für Technik Rapperswil
HSR is leader of the topic Power-to-Gas within the Swiss Competence Center for Energy Research and the leading Swiss research institution for applied power-to-gas topics. As scientific consultant for the Hybridwerk Solothurn and leader of a Swiss National Research Fund Project on Renewable Methane from Power-to-Gas, HSR brought high expertise to the STORE&GO project. Furthermore, HSR operates a 25 kW pilot and demonstration plant including methanation and grid integration as well as a gas filling station for applied research purposes. In STORE&GO HSR was mainly responsible for all evaluation and analysis activities as well as dissemination and training in connection with the demo plant in Switzerland (WP 3). Furthermore, HSR was leader of WP 5 (the techno-economic evaluation of all demo plants) and particularly responsible for benchmarking and evaluation methods.
Hysytech S.R.L.
In STORE&GO HST developed an innovative “small-scale” liquefaction unit to supply LNG to a dedicated storage for liquid synthetic natural gas (SNG), suitable to feed LNG delivery tanker/trucks. HST undertook the engineering design of the demo unit that was carried out through the basic and detail stages. HST is specialized in fuel processing, fuel and energy storage/management and realization of industrial prototypes and pilot plant.
HST was also responsible for the Balance of Plant (BoP). They undertook the mechanical engineering, the specification of the necessary flare, and all the other design activities necessary for the BoP. They also purchased cryogenic pipes and purchased and deployed the flare (including control device). HST coordinated the process commissioning with all unit suppliers, safety procedures and process safety checks.
Iren SPA
IREN, a Multi utility Company listed on the Italian Stock Exchange, operates in the sectors of electricity (production, distribution and sale), thermal energy for district heating (production and sale), gas (regasification, distribution and sale), the management of integrated water services, environmental services (collection and disposal of waste) and energy services.
In STORE&GO project IREN contributed supplying and elaborating dispatching data of 4 CCGT (Combined Cycle Gas Turbine) for a total installed capacity of about 2.000 MW of which 3 are CHP. The objective in WP 6 was:
- Evaluating the role of PtG as flexibility tool for the power generation especially in combination with CHP.
- Evaluating the possibility (technical and legislative) of use the produced SNG as a input of the gas fired plant.
KIT Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
KIT (EBI-CEB) contributed to STORE&GO especially to WP 2 (the demonstration of operation of an integrated innovative Power to Methane plant) by providing a thorough scientific expertise in methanation technologies with the focus on the innovative honeycomb methanation process. KIT provided all the technology data necessary for the upscaling of its TRL 5 process to the desired MW scale. Furthermore, the optimization potential of the honeycomb methanation process was exploited by parallel lab scale, CFD and reaction engineering activities in Karlsruhe. KIT took a leading role in the detailed engineering of the Falkenhagen plant and was the scientific supervisor of the following operation and evaluation phase stretching activities to WP 5.
Politecnico di Torino
POLITO, a leading Italian technical university, contributed to STORE&GO with two of its areas of expertise:
- in WP4 (demo plant in Troia) the group of Prof. Saracco (process engineering) lead unit and process modelling activities tailored to optimize the related design and control activities. In addition, through its experimental materials and chemicals analysis equipment POLITO monitored the performance and the degradation of critical materials (catalysts, sorbents) throughout the duration of the demo campaign.
- in WP6 (Integration studies) the group of Prof. Bompard (electric engineering) coordinated the WP activities on the integration of the PtG technologies in the European scenario, by assessing, also via a prototype application simulator, the impact of the technology over the current electric grid European management in various Countries and Regions.
POLITO also contributed to training and dissemination activities with special reference to the demo plant in Troia.
Regio Energie Solothurn
Regio Energie Solothurn is an energy utility under public law providing electricity, gas, water and heat for the city and region of Solothurn/Switzerland. They built and (since 2015) operate the "Hybridwerk Solothurn". As leader of WP 3, RES was the main partner for the planning, installation and operation of the demo methanation plant in Solothurn. They can built on high expertise from former projects, having skilled experts for installation, maintenance and data acquisition in their company. Furthermore, they developed concepts for the usage of different energy carriers, shifting between the energy carriers with high flexibility to significantly increase the integration of renewable energy.
RUG University of Groningen
The Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (RUG) is a 400-year old broad research university in the Netherlands with a global outlook, is in the top 100 of the Times Higher Education ranking, has some 30,000 students and 5,200 FTE staff. Annual turnover: € 614M. Energy and sustainability is one of the three key cross-faculty research themes.
RUG-CEER is an extensive network of some 30 senior and 40-60 junior researchers in the area of economic and business, specifically related to energy, and was responsible for STORE&GO WP8 coordination and tasks 8.1 and 8.2.
RUG-IVEM is an energy system analysis research institute of some 15 researchers that was specifically involved in STORE&GO tasks 5.4, 6.2, and 7.1.
RUG-GCEL employs 40 researchers in the field of energy law, and was responsible for STORE&GO task 7.3.
Studio Tecnico BFP
Studio Tecnico BFP s.r.l. is a dynamic and flexible engineering company with multiple years of experience in both the ENERGY sector for the production, transmission and supply of electrical energy, in particular from renewable sources such as sun and wind, and also in the OIL sector (roadside fuel service stations).
In STORE&GO BFP had a leading role in the organisation of the heat exploitation loops. Particularly, a high temperature loop was developed so as to drive the hydrogen desorption from the HST unit developed in Task4.1.
BFP, with TROIA, also was in charge of the realisation of the methane injection point in the local natural gas distribution grid (<4 bar) and of "Operation of demonstration plant" (Task 4.6).
BFP also contributed to training and dissemination activities with special reference to the demo plant in Troia.
SVGW Schweizerischer Verein des Gas- und Wasserfaches
The Swiss Association of Gas and Water is the reference Swiss institution for the development of technical rules, the associated pre-normative research and certification of gas and water related appliances. Within STORE&GO SVGW was important for all regulative issues with regards to the installation and operation of the Swiss demo plant in WP 3. Furthermore, SVGW was leading the dissemination activities in WP 3.7.
thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions AG
The thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions business area is a leading partner for the engineering, construction and service of all industrial plants and systems. In addition to chemical, coke, cement and other industrial plants and refineries, our portfolio also includes mining, ore processing and port handling equipment along with corresponding services. Around 19,000 employees at over 70 locations form a global network with a technology portfolio that guarantees maximum productivity and cost-efficiency. In STORE&GO thyssenkrupp was responsible for the development of new innovative isothermal reactor concepts in WP2 and the process design for the pilot plant in WP2. Furthermore, the company elaborated monitoring and techno-economic aspects in WP 2 and WP 5.
Uniper Energy Storage GmbH
Uniper Energy Storage GmbH pools decades of experience and all the Uniper Group’s competence in gas and energy storage throughout Europe. Uniper’s WindGas Falkenhagen site in Brandenburg is a MW scale power to gas plant, which is producing hydrogen from renewable electricity and injecting the hydrogen into the natural gas transport grid since 2013. Uniper has extensive knowledge in the application and operation of Power to Gas technologies under realistic boundary conditions, as a link between natural gas and electricity systems. Within STORE&GO Uniper was responsible for the implementation of the methanation in the existing plant and the operation of the German demo site in Falkenhagen (WP 2).
