(11-09-2023) The Śrem Museum hosted a signing ceremony for the design of a new hydrogen-heated housing development on Farna Street, which will be implemented by Con-Project Sp. z o.o. in cooperation with SES Hydrogen Energy as part of an investment by Śrem TBS Sp. z o.o. and the Municipality of Śrem. Within the framework of the project, SES Hydrogen Energy, whose main shareholder is WSE-listed Sescom SA, will design the first hydrogen boiler plant for residential buildings in Poland, along with the necessary infrastructure.
In 2022, under a letter of intent, SES Hydrogen and Śrem TBS expressed their willingness to cooperate in providing zero-emission hydrogen boiler technology to heat a new housing development on Farna Street in Śrem.
The signed agreement makes these plans a reality and begins the implementation of design documentation for the pioneering hydrogen boiler plant, which will be part of a diversified heating system providing heat for the planned 195 apartments. The system envisions the installation of a hydrogen boiler plant based on the combustion of hydrogen and oxygen, as well as a heating system including ground-source brine/water heat pumps.
The event, at the invitation of Śrem Mayor Adam Lewandowski and President of Śrem TBS Sp. z o.o. Wiesław Małaszniak was attended by the Marshal of the Greater Poland Voivodeship Marek Woźniak, Member of the Board of Directors of the Greater Poland Voivodeship Jacek Bogusławski, Chairwoman of the Regional Assembly of the Greater Poland Voivodeship Małgorzata Waszak-Klepka, Starosta of Śrem Zenon Jahns, Chairwoman of the City Council of Śrem Katarzyna Sarnowska, as well as representatives of the Greater Poland Hydrogen Platform, the TBS Chamber of Commerce, Śrem municipal companies and government, scientific and financial institutions.
The hydrogen boiler room will be part of the full project and will serve to provide hot water for DHW and central heating for the buildings. Its focal point will be a hydrogen-oxygen boiler along with gas preparation facilities. The full infrastructure will include a hydrogen-oxygen generation module using electrolyzers, an electrolysis water preparation system, a hydrogen-oxygen storage module, and power and control systems for technological processes and heat exchange.
The hydrogen boiler that will ultimately be used in the project will be the first fully environmentally friendly heating device dedicated to medium- and large-scale applications that will ensure the elimination of COx, NOx, SOx, and dust emissions through the use of hydrogen and oxygen substrates and a closed loop system. The specially designed system is expected to enable partial recycling and reuse of water, which will be routed back to the electrolyzer. The goal is to achieve sustainable use of water resources.
The use of hydrogen in residential heating will ensure the implementation of climate and environmental strategies in the local area, improving the daily comfort of residents.
– For years, the priority of the municipality of Śrem has been sustainable development. In carrying out the tasks of local government and meeting the needs of residents, we try to follow modernity. As a municipality, we have introduced many initiatives aimed at improving the quality of the environment: we subsidize residents’ replacement of coal heating, we have piloted a smart waste management system on a block housing estate, Śrem Waterworks produces soil improver from waste, the fleet of the municipal company PGK is 50% powered by LNG/CNG. The hydrogen-powered estate is a big step in the development of multi-family housing heating systems. It is a project of civilization significance, and the prospect of developing hydrogen technology convinces us to join this innovative and pioneering venture – emphasizes Adam Lewandowski, Mayor of Śrem.
Indeed, hydrogen is the answer to the challenge of reducing emissions in the building sector in the long term.
– When we partnered with Śrem TBS and the Municipality of Śrem last year, the idea of implementing hydrogen in decarbonizing the building sector was extremely promising, but few entities had even considered the possibility. Just a year later, we are facing the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, which requires all newly constructed buildings to be zero-carbon from 2028 – says Mateusz Soltysiak, CEO of SES Hydrogen Energy. – The hydrogen housing estate project in Śrem is innovative not only on a national scale but also across Europe, ensuring that regulatory targets are met while making heat consumers independent of what happens in the energy and fuel market. We are all the more pleased with this cooperation and the fact that ultimately it will be our hydrogen boiler that will heat new buildings in Śrem. We hope that this will be a positive accelerator that will encourage more cities, investors, and developers to implement clean hydrogen technologies.
– The subject of the contract is the design of a complex of multi-family residential buildings in Srem. The construction of the buildings, as well as the basic method of heating, cooling, and ventilation, are based on known technologies and are similar to other residential buildings we have already designed. The floor-to-ceiling heating system or heat pumps with ground exchangers are well-known and proven in many variants. What required our designers to apply non-standard design solutions was, first, the use of hydrogen technology as an installation cooperating with the central heating and hot water system based on ground source heat pumps – noted Ryszard Grzęda, CEO of Con-Project Sp. z o.o. – This is the most innovative project carried out in our company, and we are very pleased to have been offered participation in its development. The project will use solutions that certainly require a new approach.
