ZEUS

Sectour coupling

The large-scale production of hydrogen from renewable energy is the basis for directly avoiding climate-damaging CO₂ emissions in the long term. In addition to the expansion of renewable energy production, the aim is to increase the interconnection of the energy sector and the energy-intensive industry, also known as sector coupling. Power generation from renewable energy generates massive energy surpluses in the summer, which are needed in the winter due to the greatly reduced availability and the increased demand. With the help of sector coupling, the surpluses can be converted into storable products such as green hydrogen or renewable hydrocarbons (e. g. synthetic natural gas) to stabilise the energy system. In addition, there are industrial processes with unavoidable CO₂ emissions, because CO₂ is formed by the raw materials and not by the used fossil fuel. Thus, the chemical conversion of CO₂ and hydrogen into valuable, storable products is another important aspect of sector coupling and should contribute to achieving climate neutrality.

Project description

The flagship project ZEUS focuses on the electricity sector and the steel and cement sectors, which are difficult to decarbonise. The aim is to develop and demonstrate cross-sectoral climate-neutral process chains – from the production and preparation of green hydrogen under fluctuating process conditions, to the capture of CO₂ from industrial waste gases and the conversion into valuable, storable hydrocarbons. Various pilot plants and processes are investigated in industrial environment (6 MW PEM electrolysis, CO₂ capture, catalytic methanation, CO₂ electrolysis) to demonstrate interconnected, holistic process chains. The ZEUS flagship project aims to speed up the transfer of climate-friendly technologies into practice through its demonstration character. Another goal is to sustainably anchor sector coupling in Austria.