Minnesota has made considerable progress in developing wind energy resources but the vast percentage of this resource remains untapped. The wind energy resource is located away from the large electrical loads and there are limited transmission assets to move the energy to the load. Wind energy remains a stranded energy resource and transmission system upgrades will only provide modest increases in development and utilization.

Hydrogen is touted as the energy carrier of the future and is a primary transportation fuel emphasis of the DOE. The Midwest is home to several major companies that are developing hydrogen related technologies and core capacities in fuel cell manufacturing. However, there has been limited success in bringing hydrogen technologies into mainstream markets.

One of the most profound uses of wind energy and perhaps the ideal bridge technology to a hydrogen economy in the Midwest could be the production of anhydrous ammonia. Anhydrous ammonia has many applications but the most important use is as nitrogen fertilizer. Over $300 million of anhydrous ammonia is used as nitrogen fertilizer in Minnesota agriculture and the accompanying infrastructure for transporting, storing, and utilization is already in place. Minnesota ranks in the top five nationwide along with other Midwest states in corn production and subsequent anhydrous ammonia use. In addition to providing a valuable product for farmers, locally owned wind to hydrogen to anhydrous ammonia facilities may lead to grass roots development of hydrogen fueling stations and increased deployment of hydrogen fueled vehicles.

The University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center (WCROC) along with several stakeholders are developing a pilot project that will utilize the local resources of wind energy, water, and air to replace natural gas as the core ingredients in the production of nitrogen fertilizer. In addition to a $2 million wind turbine, the University and State of Minnesota have provided $3.75 million to construct a wind to hydrogen to ammonia pilot facility.

A 1.65 MW Vestas V-82 wind turbine has been producing electrical energy at the WCROC since March 2005. A 400 kW 80 Nm3 electrolyzer will be added to this system along with hydrogen compression, storage, and other infrastructure. Hydrogen will be extracted from water and nitrogen from the air. A modified Haber Bosch process will be used for the production of anhydrous ammonia. The nitrogen fertilizer product will be utilized on the WCROC research farm as part of the demonstration. The cost of production and system efficiency will be measured and an optimal production system will be modeled.

The potential implications of this pilot project are: Opens a new market for an estimated 2 gigawatts of nameplate wind capacity within Minnesota, diminishes the need for additional transmission capacity to accommodate wind energy, enables utility companies to manage the variable nature of wind energy, provides substantial economic development opportunities for farmers and rural communities, and provides a grass roots base from which to grow other hydrogen related industries.