World first Green Ammonia power demonstrator developed by Siemens, Cardiff and Oxford University

FLEXIS researchers are piloting a new integrated renewable power-to-power system demonstrator that uses ammonia as an intermediate energy storage medium generated from wind power via the well-established Haber-Bosch process.

The £1.5m proof-of-concept demonstrator facility – the first of its kind – was opened in Rutherford Appleton Laboratories (Harwell), Oxfordshire. It will test the next-generation technology with a view to creating brand new sustainable systems which generate and use power when required, whilst efficiently storing energy in the form of ammonia when the demand for or price of electricity is low. The system aims to address the well-known intermittency problems inherent in renewable power generation such as wind and solar power.

The Cardiff researchers, based within Cardiff’s Gas Turbine Research Centre (GTRC), are working alongside Siemens, Oxford University, the Science and Technology Facilities Council as part of an Innovate UK project to develop the technology.

The project includes researchers from FLEXIS – a £24 million EU Regional Development Fund (ERDF) project designed to grow the energy systems research capacity in Wales based on world-leading research across Welsh Universities. FLEXIS also aims to demonstrate novel energy systems and concepts to enhance their commercial viability.