Sustainable Energy projects
Development of a second generation PEM fuel cell for combined heat and power production
The role of Gaia in this project was to survey different intelligence strategies of virtual power plants (VPP), list their pros and cons, and critically assess them technically and economically. (European Commission, 2006-2008).
Joint R&D project between EU (FP6) and the U.S., coordinated by Vaillant (Germany), aimed at developing second generation PEM fuel cell for combined heat and power production in the 1-5 kW range (household applications). The major shift in the fuel cell technology is the development of high temperature (160-180 ºC) PEM cells (HT-PEM) that shall replace the conventional low temperature (n. 75 ºC) PEM cells (LT-PEM). With the HT-PEM, the produced heat is much more usable than with the LT-PEM.
The role of Gaia in this project was firstly, to survey different intelligence strategies of virtual power plants (VPP), list their pros and cons, and critically assess them technically and economically, and secondly, to create data interfaces between Gaia Optimiser and the fuel cell model to be developed elsewhere during the project, and between Gaia Optimiser and Vaillant Energy Manager, the unit controlling individual fuel cells. The purpose of the latter interface development is to make it possible to implement Gaia Optimiser in VPP’s consisting of Vaillant fuel cells.
