Siemens Gamesa to play key role at GreenLab

One of the world’s largest wind-turbine manufacturers, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, sees green ammonia as a potential means of storing surplus energy from onshore and offshore wind farms.

As Senior Key Expert Jens Schiersing Thomsen of Siemens Gamesa explains: “In the green, sustainable energy supply systems of the future, one of our biggest challenges will be storing and converting energy and resources. One solution may be the use of surplus wind-based electricity to produce eco-friendly ammonia. This solution would offer double benefits: using the surplus energy that arises in peak wind situations, and creating a new, sustainable product we call ‘green’ ammonia.”

Today’s conventional methods produce ammonia using fossil fuels. This process is highly energy-intensive, so converting to eco-friendly ammonia production will mean significant savings on CO2. Ammonia has various uses, notably as an essential ingredient in the artificial fertilisers used by farmers around the world. That is why Siemens Gamesa and Energifonden Skive have set out to examine, over the next few years, how they can set up a green ammonia pilot plant at the GreenLab Skive site, near the Danish town of Skive. They will soon embark on their initial investigations, which include determining plant size and capacity.

“We’re really looking forward to this joint endeavour,” says Commercial Director Christopher Sorensen of GreenLab Skive. “We’ll be grappling with one of the major challenges to our energy system: storing surplus power. This solution will also be an excellent match for our industrial symbiosis here at GreenLab – our internal network”.