PRODUCTION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Green hydrogen into the gas grid: electrolysis delivered inside a live network facility
CLIENT
JEMENA
SECTOR
Power-to-gas
LOCATION
Western Sydney, Australia
AT A GLANCE
1 MW
ELECTROLYSER PLATFORM
30 bar
DELIVERY PRESSURE
2.5 MVA
GRID CONNECTION, 11 kV
2021
FIRST HYDROGEN INTO THE NETWORK
Jemena operates some of Australia’s largest gas and electricity networks. At its Horsley Park high-pressure gas facility in Western Sydney, it set out to prove that green hydrogen could be produced from renewable electricity, stored, and blended into the existing gas network for use in homes and businesses — NSW’s first green hydrogen production facility and, at the time, the largest renewable gas trial in the country, co-funded by ARENA.
The electrolyser had to be delivered as part of an operational energy site: energised from the 11 kV network through a 2.5 MVA transformer, integrated with on-site hydrogen storage and the network injection point, and brought into service within a facility that could not stop operating around it. Jemena engaged Energys as system integrator for the integration, installation and commissioning of the electrolyser package.
The engineering challenge: install and commission megawatt-platform electrolysis and manage the grid interface inside a live network facility — with hydrogen blended into the gas grid at the end of it.
THE BRIEF
Add green hydrogen into a working gas network
ENERGYS’ SCOPE
What Energys delivered
Energys acted as system integrator for the supplied containerised electrolyser package — integration, installation and commissioning — across electrical, process, mechanical, controls and hydrogen safety disciplines, followed by a three-year service agreement supporting the facility in operation.
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The electrolyser was supplied as a containerised PEM package on a 1 MW platform, fitted with a 500 kW stack and upgradeable to full capacity, with reverse-osmosis water treatment built in. Energys coordinated the electrolyser skids, power supply systems and balance-of-plant into a working installation for the site, and integrated the hydrogen process connections to on-site storage and, downstream of the storage tank, the injection interface into Jemena's Western Sydney gas network at 2 vol% hydrogen.
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Energys managed installation, electrical integration and grid interface coordination for the package, supplied from the 11 kV network through a 2.5 MVA transformer to 415 V AC. As part of hazardous-area compliance, Energys guided and supported the replacement of ATEX-certified instrumentation with IECEx-certified equivalents to suit Australian requirements.
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Energys provided commissioning support through to first hydrogen production and injection into the network in 2021, and developed the maintenance and operational frameworks handed over to Jemena for the five-year demonstration. Energys then supported the facility under a three-year service agreement, covering scheduled maintenance visits and manufacturer upgrades, completed in full.
THE SYSTEM
Containerised PEM Electrolyser and Grid Interface
A containerised PEM hydrogen electrolyser system installed within Jemena’s grid-connected renewable gas trial facility at Horsley Park, Western Sydney.
The package is built on a 1 MW electrolyser platform with balance-of-plant and power supply systems sized for full capacity, fitted with a 500 kW stack and engineered for upgrade to 1 MW. It produces hydrogen at 10.5 kg/h at 30 bar delivery pressure, with reverse-osmosis water treatment integrated within the electrolyser package. Electrical supply is taken from the 11 kV grid through a 2.5 MVA transformer to 415 V AC; water is supplied from the site connection.
Hydrogen is delivered to on-site storage, from which the injection interface blends it into the existing Western Sydney gas network at a concentration of 2 vol% hydrogen. The installation occupies an 18 m × 11 m site footprint of 198 m².