Global hydrogen energy company HDF Energy and its equity partners, the infrastructure fund Meridiam and the petroleum operator SARA, have announced the start of the construction of the CEOG Renewstable power plant in French Guiana.

CEOG is the world's first multi-megawatt hydrogen power plant and will enable the largest green hydrogen storage of intermittent electricity sources at 128 MWh.

This is a multi-megawatt power plant producing stable and dispatchable electricity, 24 hours a day, without polluting emissions, HDF notes.

A 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) has been signed with French utility EDF.

Equity is being provided by Meridiam and SARA as shareholders alongside HDF.

There is non-recourse project financing from commercial and development banks.

The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract has been awarded to Siemens Energy.

“CEOG demonstrates that the HDF Renewstable solution addresses a very large market being all the grids currently powered by fossil fuel power plants.

“By supplying non-intermittent renewable energy, CEOG – which we are already replicating across the world – opens a new era for renewable energies,” HDF CEO Damien Havard says.

The Renewstable power plant, designed and developed by HDF, will supply a 100% renewable, stable and dispatchable power to 10 000 households at a lower cost than a diesel power plant, but without emitting any greenhouse gases, fine particle, noise or fumes, the company says.

A Renewstable power plant produces electricity using local sources of clean energy to fully sustain the local needs, reducing exposure to oil price volatility, supply risks and saving on foreign exchange, it adds.

Representing a total investment of $200-million, CEOG is an optimised combination of a solar park, a hydrogen long-term energy storage and a battery (short-term energy storage) to produce 24/7 baseload power.

It is the first time that a renewable energy project supplies a grid through a capacity-based PPA, usually used for thermal power plants.

This type of electricity offtake contract guarantees the availability and stability of the electricity produced by CEOG. This last characteristic is essential for powering isolated grids or reducing congestion on large networks, HDF notes.