PWED-H-CRO is a project in which electricity from the PWED system is used to produce hydrogen by electrolysis of desalinated seawater. The project is based on the fact that 1 MW of electricity from PWED has a price of around €29,000, and 1 MW of electricity from photovoltaic panels has a price of €1,000,000. In addition, since the PWED provides a continuous and stable three-phase electric current of 220 V, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, cheaper alkaline electrolyzers can be used for the electrolysis of hydrogen from seawater desalination. The electrolysis of 1 kg of hydrogen requires 10 liters of drinking water. To produce 10 liters of drinking water, it is necessary to desalinate 26 liters of seawater. The sea water left over from desalination can be used in tourism for health purposes. This residual seawater from desalination can be further heated from the thermal energy produced by the PWED and from the thermal energy created by filling the produced molecular hydrogen into “hydrogen oil”.
Empty “hydrogen oil”, known as benzyl-toluene or LHOC-, is an organic hydrogen carrier that can store 57 kg of hydrogen in 1000 liters, which when filled is called LHOC+. The handling of “hydrogen oil” is similar to the usual habits of handling diesel fuel, so there is no need for high pressures and cryogenic temperatures. For the same amount of hydrogen, in LHOC+ form, one tank is needed for transport, while for the transport of the same amount of hydrogen in cryogenic form, 5 tanks are needed. The price of one tank for LOHC is 10 times lower than the price of five tanks, which are needed for the same amount of high-pressure cryogenic hydrogen, not to mention the more demanding environmental conditions of handling high-pressure cryogenic hydrogen.
Due to the abundance of water from the sea and the easy availability of basic raw materials for the production of electricity, plastic waste from the surrounding Mediterranean countries via ship transport by sea, locations on the coast and islands of the Adriatic Sea are at an exceptional advantage for this project.
The following PWED Hydrogen CRO projects were designed:
- PWED-H-CRO-A, in the former overhaul port of Lamjana on the island of Ugljan and
- PWED-H-CRO-B, in the port of Gaženica in Zadar.