Akvamarin project of MFGT Zrt

In accordance with the National Hydrogen Strategy announced last May, Magyar Földgáztáróló Zrt., in its Akvamarin project launched on February 1, 2021, plans to achieve decarbonization goals by connecting the electricity and natural gas supply systems to the existing storage infrastructure. In the ongoing project, the company is installing a 2.0 MW electrolysis system at the Kardoskút Underground Gas Storage Facility. By operating the electrolyzing equipment to be installed, it can be ensured that instead of \”switching off\” the renewable energy source, hydrogen is produced through water splitting by using the excess electricity. The hydrogen produced in this way is mixed with natural gas according to the plans and used in the equipment of the Magyar Földgáztórő Zrt. originally operating on natural gas, thereby directly reducing their CO2 emissions. In addition, with strict adherence to quality standards, natural gas will also be delivered to end consumers through the supply system. The ripple effect of the Akvamarin project is that it directly takes the first step towards the widespread spread of hydrogen technology by using the existing infrastructure Akvamarin\’s funding requirement is more than HUF 3 billion, of which approx. 2/3 of the grant was won in a tender supervised by the NKFIH with the support of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology. The remaining part is provided by our Company on its own. According to the tender support, the project is bound by strict deadlines, 24 months are available for the implementation of the project. The implementation of the project started in the early spring of 2021 after the successful tender, after which the procurement procedures for the key equipment started in full swing, and then the site planning was ordered and carried out. We are currently awaiting the arrival of the key equipment from May of this year, at which time the on-site construction works are expected to start and be completed by the end of 2022. At that time, we would like to close the construction process by starting a trial operation in order to be able to produce hydrogen by the original tender deadline and use it mixed with natural gas on our own system and, if possible, release it to the natural gas supply system. The Research and Development program also started in the spring of 2021, when colleagues from four Universities and Research Institutes (Budapest University of Technology, the University of Debrecen, the University of Miskolc and Pannon, and the EIKI Research Institute of the University of Miskolc) carried out the foundational research and tests of the hydrogen storage system regarding his standing. Today, the results of the preliminary research have been incorporated into the implementation plans, and tests on practical samples are under preparation. Results are expected this summer.