PGE/REWE 2015

Power to Methanol Solutions for Flexible and Sustainable Operations in Power and Process Industries (Room D203, Elicium, Second Floor)

09 Jun 15
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM

Tracks: Theme: The Big Carbon Question

Speaker(s): Christian Bergins, Product Manager, Plant Optimisation, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Europe GmbH; Emmanouil Kakaras, Head of Department Innovation & New Products, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Europe GmbH; Efthymia Ioanna Koytsoumpa, Process Engineer, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Europe GmbH; Torsten Buddenberg, Head of Product Development, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Europe GmbH; K.C Tran, CEO, Carbon Recycling International; Ómar Sigurbjörnsson, R&D manager, Carbon Recycling International

The rising global energy demand, the sustainability need, energy security, and energy cost competitiveness have led to step changes in energy policies around the world. Over the past decade, the penetration of electricity from renewable energy sources (RES) in the grid has become more pronounced, especially in Europe and in California. The intermittent nature and the feed-in regulations of RES require solutions for balancing the grid and harmonizing with coal power generation.
The paper presents a novel approach of power to methanol which leverages intermittency and low carbon foot print of RES to overcome the challenges in energy transition.
The approach is to use surplus electricity deriving from the mismatch of supply and demand to produce low carbon methanol for use in the transport and chemical industries. The underlined sustainability and economic benefits are in enabling “dispatchable” power plants and the process plants to operate at higher capacity and higher profitability by avoiding new transmission lines, installing electric batteries, and producing low carbon fuel.
The approach of power to methanol is compared to other pathways for storing energy and producing methanol to highlight its competitive advantages.