Alessandra Cuneo
Project Manager
FLEXnCONFU, covering the whole value chain, is a pioneer “demonstration to market” project which will contribute to the valorisation of European Gas Turbine (GT) and Power to Gas scientific and technological competencies, and to the creation of a clean hydrogen/ammonia society.
| Business | Period | Project Coordinator | Funding Scheme |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | April 2020 - March 2024 | RINA Consulting SpA | H2020-EU.3.3.2. |
In order to meet EU 2030 and 2050 Climate and Energy goals, a high penetration of renewable energy sources (RES) into the grid are required as well as the use of alternative carbon-free fuels in already existing dispatchable centralised power plants. Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) plants will be a crucial technology with the required flexibility to compensate the intermittency of the RES. The injection of alternative fuels (i.e. hydrogen (H2) and ammonia (NH3) will help the required “fuel switch” the EU is facing, drastically reducing CO/CO2/HC emissions, which are more difficult to manage in comparison to NOx.
For this reason, FLEXnCONFU has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 884157 to develop and demonstrate innovative, economically, viable and replicable Power-to-X-to-Power (P2X2P) solutions (a number of reconversion pathways that use surplus elecric power, typically during periods where fluctuating renewable energy generation exceeds load, for use in other sector) to level the power plants load, and to un-tap their flexibility, converting electricity into hydrogen or ammonia to be in turn locally re-used in the same power plant to respond to varying demand.
FLEXnCONFU solutions will be tested and demonstrated:
RINA is the project coordinator of FLEXnCONFU and will perform the overall project management in order to establish and maintain a communication and controlling infrastructure.
We contribute to re-design of a T100 mGT combustion chamber as well as its re-adaptation for NH3 combustion. We are also support project partners in the P&ID definition as well as we are responsible of the Health & Safety procedures for FLEXnCONFU Demonstration and replication. Moreover, we are in charge of the scenario analysis and requirements definition, which implies also the electrical market assessment. Finally, we are responsible also for the scale-up and replicability of FLEXnCONFU technological innovation, the development of suitable business models and on the exploitation and IPR management.
In conclusion, the FLEXnCONFU system can be coupled to both CHP CC (Combined Heat and Power Cogenerative Cycle?) and NGCC (Natural Gas Combined Cycle?) as well as to coal integrated gasification combined cycle, so guaranteeing a wide replicability potential and a cleaner EU fossil-based power plant fleet.
In this way, the project will:
