A small Norwegian island testing a way to store wind-generated energy for those calmer days may have found the answer to producing power when there is not a breeze in the air, utilising hydrogen gas and wind energy to maximum effect.
The tiny, windswept island of Utsira, situated off Norway’s southwestern coast, is home to what is believed to be the world’s first full-scale system for cleanly transforming surplus wind power into hydrogen.
On a good day, the island’s two wind turbines produce more energy than the 210 people living on the island can use. When they are down however, most of Utsira, which measures only six square kilometres, is furnished with electricity from the mainland.
Ten households however, receive clean, wind-generated electricity regardless of the weather conditions, thanks to a pilot project launched in July 2004 making it possible to store wind power by transforming it into hydrogen. Surplus wind-generated energy is passed through water and through a process of electrolysis, the hydrogen atoms are separated from the oxygen atoms that make up water molecules. The hydrogen is then compressed and stored in a container that can hold enough hydrogen gas to cover the energy needs of the ten households for up to two wind-free days.
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