The role of biobased energy carriers in a flexible energy system

Den industriella omställningen har stött på hinder och utmaningar i att kunna säkra tillräckligt med förnyelsebar energi, oberoende av energikälla eller energibärare (t.ex. el, biogas, vätgas). Effektbristen och -problematiken i södra Sverige har fått exemplifiera några av de stora utmaningar som Sveriges energisystem står inför, både regionalt och nationellt. Effektbristen har bland annat medfört regionala problem så som stoppad utbyggnation av existerande industrier och nyetablering av andra.

Bioflex aims to increase the flexibility, redundancy and robustness of the energy system by integrating biologically produced energy carriers (biohydrogen and biogas) with electrolytic hydrogen. The project will investigate possible synergy effects between the energy carriers' different production pathways, combined anaerobic digestion and biohydrogen production as well as electrolytic hydrogen, and between the energy carriers themselves.

The combination of energy carriers and production routes is expected to generate three main effects: increased resource efficiency, increased share of bio-based energy and increased flexibility in local energy systems. Increased resource efficiency is achieved as the bioprocesses take advantage of residual streams, e.g. the industrial wastewater used for production of biogas and biohydrogen, but also sharing of resources between the bioprocess and the electrolysis.

The project will conduct a laboratory and pilot study of a two-stage bioprocess, combining production of biogas and hydrogen, investigate synergy effects and flexibility in the interaction between the bioprocesses and electrolytic hydrogen production, technoeconomic analysis of the system and an analysis of implementation scenarios. The project goals are to demonstrate the two-stage bioprocess continuously, reduce the residence time in biogas production by 50% and optimize nutrient supply, as well as to create an implementation plan and recommendations to actors for further development of the concept.