Earlier this month, Panasonic inaugurated its RE100 facility in Cardiff, Wales, which will run entirely on renewable energy. The 50-year-old retrofitted site will utilise a combination of hydrogen fuel cells, solar power and battery storage, coordinated by Panasonic’s energy management system (EMS).
Hydrogen serves a key role at the facility, as the heat produced from the fuel cells as a byproduct of electricity production will also be used to heat spaces and water. The energy source has gained prominence in recent years as a key player in the global energy transition.
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Panasonic’s energy strategy director Masaya Aiba and Shigeki Yasuda, senior engineer of the RE100 project, discuss the challenges of integrating three different energy systems into an ageing Cardiff facility and the role of hydrogen in the future of clean energy.
Jackie Park (JP): What were some key lessons from the development of this project?
Shigeki Yasuda (SY): The main challenge was adapting our system to comply with the UK’s safety standards, especially when treating high-pressure hydrogen. This was completely new to us, very different from what we do in Japan. So, we made sure to work with local experts and get their advice, in addition to using our insights from the project in Japan. We realised how important it is to understand the different regulations in different countries.
JP: Your experience spans across the Japanese and European markets and beyond – what key differences have you noticed in developing and operating such projects in various regions?
SY: From a technical point, there is a cultural difference between Japan and Europe in the use of heat, and how to use hot water from pure hydrogen. In Japan, we usually use heat for domestic water, like for the shower. In Europe, heating demand is higher as heat is used for generating electricity, heating spaces and hot water. So, at this factory, to make sure we can use the heat from the hydrogen for heating the factory and hot water, we took different steps to verify the effectiveness of heat utilisation.
JP: In addition to producing electricity, the heat generated by the fuel cells at Cardiff is used for heating. How did you approach the design and engineering of this heat recovery system?
SY: In this proof of concept (POC), we asked for the heat demand of the factory, and then worked together with a local construction company on how to best utilise the heat. According to our simulation with them, we could reduce our power consumption by 50% by optimising both power and exhaust heat from the fuel cell.
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By GlobalDataThe electrical efficiency of our fuel cell is 57% (DC, LHM) and the heat recovery efficiency is 47% (LHM). In total, we can achieve up to 104% efficiency because we try to utilise the heat as much as possible.
JP: In terms of sourcing hydrogen, how did you ensure the fuel cells operate reliably with variable hydrogen purity and supply chain logistics?
SY: We worked closely with a UK-based hydrogen company, Protium, for this project, to verify the purity of hydrogen. We need to take samples from time to time, and we try to understand how to adopt the hydrogen purity from a technical side. Of course, we are working to improve our robustness for hydrogen purity. This is a target objective of our POC.
JP: What were some challenges that you encountered in retrofitting a 50-year-old factory for renewable energy integration, and what were the strategies implemented to overcome them?
Masaya Aiba (MA): The biggest challenge was space. New buildings can usually guarantee enough space to install the system – for example, electricity generators, such as turbines – which can require a lot of space. But in the case of retrofitting, it is a bit difficult to find enough room.
However, our solution was putting importance on the flexibility of design and installation. We have small fuel cell units, and we can use them individually for a few megawatts (MW) or combine the units to increase the generating capacity to up to 100 kilowatts (kW). The compact, scalable design enables us to flexibly install depending on the space available. Because units are very small, we were able to easily design the installation space, distributing the units’ placements in the building.
JP: How do you see Panasonic’s energy portfolio evolving over the next decade as you work toward your 2030 net-zero target, and what emerging technologies are you focused on exploring further?
MA: We are planning to put importance on our hydrogen business towards 2030, or even 2040. We have been doing business in solar panels and batteries as well and will continue doing so, but for the time being, we will focus the portfolio on hydrogen, specifically to broaden our hydrogen business in Europe and Japan.
JP: Why hydrogen?
MA: In the business of renewable energy in the past, we felt that renewable generation of electricity is dependent on the weather, which fluctuates a lot and frequently. So, we realised it is important to stabilise this by offering not only storage but also options to switch to other clean energy sources when necessary, and the prospective option we landed on is hydrogen. We think that we need to combine renewables, hydrogen and batteries, and this project [the Panasonic RE100 Cardiff facility] is a demonstration of combining these three systems in one place.
JP: Are there any plans to expand this technology to other regions outside Europe and Japan?
MA: Currently, we are focusing on the European markets and don’t have plans otherwise. I think that European countries are the most advanced in terms of carbon-neutral policies, and we are sure that hydrogen markets in Europe will grow faster than in other regions. So, when we looked to implement this technology outside of Japan, we believed Europe would be the fastest track. It was a realistic decision to expand our business step-by-step: the UK is the first step, Germany will come second, then elsewhere in Europe. And if this is successful, we might go into other regions.
