World's First Hydrogen Society Gets Underway

Ten households in the small island community of Utsira, west of Haugesund in Norway will become independent of electricity from the mainland this summer. On July 1, Hydro's first power plant based on a combination of wind power and hydrogen starts production on the wind-swept island - Norway's smallest municipality. Hydro has set up this project with the support of the Research Council of Norway and the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority, making the small island of Utsira a showcase, both in Norway and in the rest of the world, for the development of renewable energy. When energy production starts, two large windmills and a hydrogen unit will demonstrate to the world how a community can meet its energy demand through renewable energy. Utsira has 230 inhabitants. If all goes according to plan, other island communities will be able to set up similar wind and hydrogen plants. Utsira has an average of only three or four days a year without wind. Although this is one of the stormiest areas of Norway, the wind can be too strong or too variable to ensure an even electricity supply at high enough voltage through wind power alone. Wind power plants in operation today depend […]

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