The Academician Evgeni Budevski Institute of Electrochemistry and Energy Systems (IEES) with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) presented its Integrated Energy Systems Field Laboratory 6 at a closing news conference of a project titled HITMOBIL Ö Technologies and Systems for Clean Energy Generation, Storage and Consumption Centre of Competence.
At the news conference, IEES Director described the project as part of the efforts to make Bulgaria a clean energy leader and to contribute to climate change mitigation.
In her presentation, BAS Corresponding Member Evelina Slavcheva, who heads the project, explained that HITMOBIL activities are carried out at six specialized laboratories countrywide. "The functionality of this Centre has yet to develop, along with its role for Bulgaria's start on the road to clean energy and clean industry," Slavcheva added.
The HITMOBIL mission is to help the development and accelerated implementation of innovative technologies for storage of energy from renewable sources and its effective use in households and industry, with a focus on electric mobility.
Slavcheva said that the field laboratory is unique in its design, execution and functionality for both Bulgaria and the region with regard to all centres set up in recent years.
The first live demonstrations for visitors are planned for the spring of 2024, when the laboratory will reach its full functionality.
The HITMOBIL infrastructure includes BulgariaÒs first hydrogen charging station.
The station, manufactured by the Austrian company EDC-Anlagentechnik, is certified as a relocatable facility. This makes it possible, in principle, to use it for demonstration purposes at other sites outside its main location within Field Laboratory 6 in Sofia.
The station has two charging outlets: 350 bar and 700 bar. The two standard pressures cover the charging capabilities of cars, light trucks and heavy trucks, and the use of high-pressure buffer tanks enables charging within minutes. For larger consumption, the hydrogen charging station can use hydrogen from cylinder groups produced from other sources.
Hydrogen is produced by electrolysis, with a daily capacity of 8 kilograms per day. The hydrogen produced on-site is fed directly into the hydrogen charging station, where it is compressed to the pressure necessary for refuelling.
As part of HITMOBILÒs Experimental Development Module, the laboratory will carry out pre-industrial scale research on the production of energy from renewable energy sources, its storage in various battery and hydrogen systems, its supply to battery and hydrogen electric vehicle charging stations and to the electricity grid.
The laboratory is capable of experimenting with varying combinations of RES generation modes. For this purpose, a photovoltaic park with fixed panels and sun tracking structures has been built and a wind generator emulator has been installed to enable the research to proceed seamlessly in an urban environment.
The renewable energy produced in the experimental field laboratory will be stored in both familiar technologies (lead-acid batteries, lithium batteries and supercapacitors) and innovative technological solutions such as flow batteries and inertial flywheel systems and also in the form of green hydrogen produced by electrolysis of water.
The HITMOBIL project is implemented under a grant from the EU-co-financed Operational Programme Science and Education for Smart Growth.
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