Islands of Tonga Producing Hydrogen From Deep Water Windmills

Filed Under: Environmental News on December 9, 2009

maetec This is interesting and an innovative way to get around one of the biggest problems that wind-generated electricity has: storage. The idea is to “float” wind turbines off the coast on top of deep-water buoys. The floating of the buoy plus the electricity generated by the turbine atop the tower will culminate in hydrogen production. The hydrogen is then piped back to shore for storage.

The idea is a product of Maetec LLC and will be tested in the islands of the Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific.

The deep water buoy is for stability and the wind tower, out at sea, is not required to be as high as those nearer-to-shore. This is because winds are generally more stable at sea because of the relatively flat surface of the water versus the surface of land.

The bottom of the buoy is a water collector as well, pulling in sea water that is then subjected to electrolysis from the power generated by the wind tower. The hydrogen produced will be siphoned off and piped back to shore. The portion of the line attached to the buoy is flexible and attached to a float, which then runs it back down to the seabed for a longer, rigid pipe run back to shore. On shore, the hydrogen will be pressurized and stored.

The storage of hydrogen eliminates the largest problem with wind energy: it’s fickle and isn’t abundant at all times, so what to do with the excess or in times of “drought?”

The stored hydrogen will be used to replace diesel-burning power plants and some industrial machines. Future plans could include fueling stations for fuel cell vehicles as well.

This is an innovative way for the small islands to move towards a petroleum-free future. Plus, it’s sustainable as there are no batteries to go bad, no power grid to replace, and maintenance is much more minimal than diesel-burning has been for the islands. In addition, of course, the diesel must be imported, at a significant cost and at the expense of burning more diesel to get it there.

Residents of Tonga aren’t new to the idea of hydrogen either. Some are using hydrogen to power machines already, generating it from solar power and other sources at home.