ITM Power and Thuga celebrate two year testing mark

Energy storage and clean fuel company ITM Power was celebrating on Monday, after an announcement from the Thüga Group in Germany over the operational performance of the power-to-gas plant purchased from ITM Power two years ago.

The AIM-traded firm said the plant has successfully concluded tests for primary grid balancing, with a more economic operation and higher revenues accessible from such grid balancing.

It has also been proven as smart grid compatible, ITM Power said, with the plant operating as part of a virtual network via a real time control unit.

The plant was continuing to exceed ITM’s and Thüga’s expectations over two years of rigorous testing.

“Our tests have shown that the power-to-gas technology is able to provide primary balancing services," Michael Riechel, CEO of Thüga Aktiengesellschaft said.

In May, the Thüga Group successfully subjected its power-to-gas plant in Frankfurt to the pre-qualification profile for primary balancing - the so-called "dual bump test".

The plant was tested to see if it meets the dynamic response requirements and accuracy for primary energy market balancing.

Thüga said that, in order to take part in the primary balancing market, the entire load being offered must be reached within 30 seconds and be continuously available for at least 15 minutes.

The system was programmed and operated according to a load profile in single second resolution that reflects the frequency fluctuations in a real electricity distribution network.

This operation simulated practical conditions in order to compensate for frequency variations in the electrical grid.

"These findings show that the power-to-gas plant could be operated economically, since the potential revenues for primary balancing are higher,” Riechel commented.