Hydrogen storage in wind turbine tower — A review

Wind energy is clean, renewable, and often rises to the top of the list when considering “green” energy alternatives. Many challenging issues also arise when considering wind energy. The biggest issue, some say, is that wind energy is not reliable, dependable, or consistent enough to be taken seriously; any more than on small scale applications. Due to the inconsistent nature of wind, it cannot be a contributor for base load energy production. The industry has, and is currently addressing this issue of “intermittent” power generation from wind by means of energy storage. That is to say, produce the energy when the opportunity arises and store the energy for later use when demand levels increase. Energy storage technology has been continuously being developed for various types of renewable energy. The two primary energy platforms this applies to is wind and solar. Wind doesn´t blow 24/7 nor does the sun always shine. In order to overcome these drawbacks, the following modifications requires in our traditional wind mill structure. a. By fixing solar strip over turbine blades, we could generate electricity when the wind turbine slows or stop. b. By placing hydrogen storage compartment in a turbine tower, the plant could produce hydrogen through an electrolyser when there is excess wind energy available, and then provide electricity to domestic customers via a fuel cell and a hydrogen combustion engine. The proposed solution will be especially useful in areas with insufficient power production or insufficient electricity infrastructure. For instance, stored hydrogen can be used to provide back-up/emergency power or to secure a more reliable and higher quality power supply.