Dec 14, 2006 10:10 pm US/Mountain
Xcel, NREL Team Up To Promote Wind Power
by Paul Day
DENVER (CBS4) ―
Storing energy from the wind was the goal of a new demonstration project launched on Thursday by
Xcel Energy and the
National Renewable Energy Lab.
Wind turbines are hooked up to something called an electrolyzer which splits water to produce hydrogen, which is then compressed and stored for later use to create
electricity.
"What's exciting about this is bringing a lot of technologies together," said Kevin Harrison, a senior project engineer with NREL. "We'll be designing the power electronics to get into the controls of the wind and the controls of the electrolyzer and making them more efficient."
What's so appealing about wind to hydrogen technology is that there are no harmful
greenhouse gases.
Hospitals and malls may be the first to utilize green technology but eventually wind to hydrogen could power homes and cars, according to Xcel Chairman Dick Kelly.
"This is something that I think is maybe a decade, two decades away," Kelly said.
Politicians and green activists turned out for Thursday's dedication.
"What you are doing today by showing how we can take the power of the wind and create hydrogen is one of those items on the menu that will lead us to energy independence," said Sen.
Ken Salazar.
Right now the technology is relatively expensive so making it affordable is another goal of the project.
The cost of the 2-year project is about $2 million.
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