H2 Solutions in Ground Power Equipment
Within the scope of the Interreg North Sea Region HyTrEc2 project, a report on hydrogen solutions in ground power equipment has been published by a team of Dutch researchers from The University of Groningen.The research and subsequent report, H2 Solutions in Ground Power Equipment, published by the Faculty of Economics at the University of Groningen, with Deniz Sezer as lead author of the report, are to be followed by further academic publications on this topic. Thanks to the resources provided by the Interreg North Sea Region HyTrEc2 project, the university has been provided with a strong basis on which to further build capacity of HyTrEc2's main objective — to decarbonise the North Sea Region through the establishment of a self-sustaining hydrogen economy.
The results from the report will be presented by the researchers of the University of Groningen during the final regional HyTrEc2 workshop of the project, to be held on June 1st at Groningen Airport Eelde. Participants of the event will be able to hear about the learnings from the retrofitted hydrogen Ground Power Unit (H-GPU) pilot project presented by Holthausen Clean Technologies. The official unveiling of H-GPU will be conducted by the regional minister of Groningen.
In a nutshell, the report aims to explore the feasibility for the implementation of hydrogen solutions for ground power units (GPUs) and develop a comprehensive framework that provides recommendations and suggestions for the transformation.
The overarching aim of the report is to "support the goal of attaining emissions-free ground operations by 2030 and address various technical, environmental, and economic challenges associated with the development of hydrogen ecosystems in airports". Therefore, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis has been carried out to evaluate the environmental impact of deploying hydrogen solutions, in addition to a cost-benefit analysis to evaluate the economic feasibility of doing so. Finally, the report provides an analysis of exisiting barriers for the hydrogen transition for GPUs.
Extracted from the managerial summary of the report, the specific tasks and objectives of the project are outlined below:
- Conducting a LCA to analyze relevant technical/operational aspects (e.g. minimal power output, maintenance) and CO2 gains of h-GPUs.
- Development of a cost-benefits model to evaluate the economic impact of the transition to h-GPUs.
- Analysis of operational, economic, legal and regulatory, technical, safety barriers for the transformation.
- Determining the learning points in the transformation to h-GPUs for regional airports here and beyond to facilitate replicability in other regions.
Proposing recommendations to support policy, stakeholders enhancing knowledge, and facilitating further research.
The "H2 Solutions in Airport Ground Power Equipment" report is now published and readily available for download here.
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(Above) Schematic drawing of overview of a hydrogen ground power unit (extracted from the "H2 SOLUTIONS IN AIRPORT GROUND POWER EQUIPMENT" report. Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Groningen, The Netherlands)