Electrolytic water hydrogen production technology can be used to adjust the peak and valley changes of power grid and maintain the stability of power grid system. Suitable for small-scale distributed generation of hydrogen production scenarios, can be combined with solar, wind and other tidal power generation and widely used. In the future, if the cost can be reduced, electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen technology will become the killer application of energy Internet.

Hydrogenics, a Canadian hydrogen energy company, recently announced that it will provide large-scale water electrolysis equipment for a Hydrogen station in Germany. Hydrogenics customers are building a megawatt hydrogenation station in Wuppertal, Germany, where a waste treatment plant will power the device, converting waste from water to clean energy. The system will be delivered in 2019 and is expected to produce more than 400 kilograms of hydrogen per day.

There are three main electrolysis technologies for hydrogen production from water: alkaline hydrolysate, solid oxide hydrolysate and proton exchange membrane hydrolysate. (1) Alkaline hydrolysate is widely used in hydrogen production, but it causes environmental pollution and has low efficiency.(2) The working temperature of solid oxide electrolysis water hydrogen production is too high, resulting in limited selection, sealing and operation of electrolysis materials, which is difficult to popularize and apply in a wide range; (3) Proton exchange membrane hydrolysis hydrogen production equipment is small in size, high in efficiency, and the purity of hydrogen produced is as high as 99.999%.Promising technology of hydrogen production by electrolysis of water. The technology can operate at high voltage and current density, even under space constraints and unstable power. However, the high cost of hydrogen production by electrolysis has always been the bottleneck of its application.

In terms of scope, the top three applications of hydrogen production technology are hydrogen production from natural gas (48%), hydrogen production from alcohol cracking (30%) and hydrogen production from coke oven gas (8%). Due to the lack of resources, high environmental protection requirements, Japan's main push electrolysis water hydrogen production technology. Our country is rich in coal resources, hydrogen production from coal gasification and hydrogen production from coke oven gas are more applied, it seems that there is no need to develop hydrogen production technology from electrolysis water. In this way, hydrogen production technology of Hydrogenics in PEM is of no significance to domestic enterprises.

From the perspective of practical application scenarios, the author believes that PEM hydrogen production technology occupies a unique and indispensable position in the industrial chain, and the application value behind the technology deserves the industry's attention:

1, simple equipment, small footprint, flexible application conditions. Mature water electrolysis technology, high purity of hydrogen produced, flexible application conditions is a major bright spot. With the popularity of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, the demand for hydrogenation stations will be more and more. Conventional hydrogenation stations are similar to gas stations, which occupy a large area and have high construction costs. The small and micro hydrogen production and hydrogenation stations using electrolytic water have small volume and convenient shipment (if conditions are available, they can be designed into mobile styles), which are very suitable for use in large cities with limited land, temporary scenes and independent industrial parks. As shown in Figure 2, Honda launched a small hydrogenation station in 2016 that uses solar water electrolysis to produce hydrogen, which can fill hydrogen for the company's internal hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

2. It has a wide application prospect in energy storage scenarios. As shown in Figure 3, the PEM hydrogen production technology converts surplus electric energy into hydrogen storage by electrolyzing water in the off-peak of power load, and uses hydrogen to generate electricity in the peak of power consumption. This feature can keep the power of the generator set constant, and can be used to adjust the changes of peak and valley of power grid to maintain the stability of power grid system.

(1) The residential areas have the requirements of miniaturization of generator sets and energy storage devices, high adaptability of energy storage and power generation stability. PEM hydrogen production technology can adapt to the discontinuous and unstable power supply defects of wind power and photovoltaic power generation, and promote the development of distributed energy economy.

(2) China is rich in renewable resources such as hydropower and wind power, and some regions have abandoned hydropower and wind power. If these abandoned electricity are used for electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen, objective economic effects can be generated. Compared with lithium battery system, hydrogen energy system has the advantages of stable energy storage, convenient transportation, no attenuation, and better environmental adaptability.