UK's First Hydrogen Powered Building
In 2006, the regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward, opened an innovation technology centre providing small office and workshop space for new and growing manufacturing technology companies. Late 2008 saw the completion of an extension to the AMP Technology Centre, designed for companies developing new energy and environmental technologies. A unique feature of the building will be a sophisticated energy system, developed by TNEI Services Ltd. and the Pure Energy Centre, which will both reduce the electricity demand of the operation of the building and the activities of its occupiers from the network and which will also have the capacity to export electricity to the local electrical network.
Electricity will be generated from a 225 kW wind turbine at the edge of the site, attached to an electrolysis unit which will convert some of the wind energy into hydrogen. The hydrogen will then be stored in composite cylinders and fed to a 30 kW fuel cell when required to provide electricity to the building during the day and potentially supplying the National Grid with surplus power. The building will be attached to traditional electricity supplies in case of an emergency but it is expected that this building will be fully self-sufficient.
It will also demonstrate Future Energy Concepts, some of which will focus on hydrogen production, storage and power generation, which will be actively used to manage the building demands and to make maximum use of the installed wind capacity. The hydrogen storage will provide a buffer to allow the facility to continue generating power in low-wind conditions and to provide an on-site electricity consumer for excess power generation when building occupancy is low (i.e. overnight and weekends).
The aim is to make the entire project zero carbon. The building itself will have very low energy emissions. It will be heated by a network of pipes set into the concrete, supplied by water from bore holes heated naturally to 28 degrees Celsius. In the summer the water will remain at its normal 12 degrees Celsius, cooling the building.
Read more about this topic: Advanced Manufacturing Park
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