I finally completed translating the French news item Scuba Steve shared with us earlier. Here it is:
The first green hydrogen station in Corsica will open in the second half of 2021, on the Aléria production site of Corstyrene, a specialist in thermal insulation. Powered from solar shades, located in the factory parking lot, the installation will produce up to 100 kWp which, in a first phase, will be used to recharge 7 STILL RX 20 trolleys equipped with a fuel cell.
"Sustainable development is in our DNA" underlines Estelle Ouzineb, engineer in charge of projects at Corstyrène, the company having been created precisely to limit the ecological impact generated by the transport of insulation panels, previously manufactured on the continent. , then transported to Corsica. "An environmental mismanagement if we know that these products are composed of 98% air". A polystyrene waste recycling unit was then set up in order to recover these industrial by-products which are now reintegrated into the manufacture of certain references. "Tests are underway to bring this rate up to 50 % ”Reveals Estelle Ouzineb.
Investing in the energies of the future
Corstyrène also turned to renewable energies by installing, in 2010, a photovoltaic power plant on its production site in Aléria (75 kWp), in Haute Corse, then by investing in the creation, in partnership with Générale du Solar, a 3 ha photovoltaic park connected to the grid in 2020.
A new step in this green deployment: the construction, still on the Aléria site, of a hydrogen production and distribution station with a theoretical capacity of 20 kg / day, supplied by photovoltaic shades installed in the car park of the company. "It is, as such, a double first Corsica" specifies Estelle Ouzineb, "since it is indeed green hydrogen, therefore completely carbon-free", while 95% of the hydrogen, currently available on the market, is produced from natural gas. This station, which will be located on an 80 m2 slab, adjoining the factory, will initially supply seven forklifts equipped with fuel cells.
For the choice of gear, "we naturally turned to STILL, which has experience on the subject. STILL was able to offer us solutions that met our needs, at competitive costs and deadlines "comments the engineer.
Recognized know-how
“STILL is indeed a pioneer in the development and implementation of fuel cell trucks,” comments Christophe Oruzio, Warehouse Products Manager and responsible for fuel cell projects at STILL France, the company which now owns the site ( 1) with the largest European fleet of hydrogen powered forklifts. “Our recognized know-how in the field leads us to advise and carry out numerous projects, all over Europe. We are therefore delighted to contribute to the development of green energy in Corsica, by setting up clean trolleys at Corstyrène ".
In practice, the 7 trolleys (5 RX-20 16P and 2RX-20 18P) will be sold pre-equipped to receive a PlugPower type 1510-48 CEA fuel cell (power 10 kW at 48V). They will be delivered with a CE certificate of conformity which covers the whole trolley and fuel cell. "Our island partner will be in charge of the maintenance of the trucks", specifies Christophe Oruzio, while PlugPower will take care of the maintenance of the fuel cells. The switch to hydrogen will, of course, allow "greater flexibility in the use of the trolleys", explains Estelle Ouzineb, with a filling time of only two minutes, where it currently takes 8 hours to recharge. a conventional electric battery.
First floor of an ambitious project
But this advantage is not fundamental for Corstyrene "because our trolleys, which are used for the transport of raw materials and finished products, do not run continuously". This is in fact a first step, which is part of a more global and ambitious project. “The ultimate goal is to replace the plant's entire fleet of forklifts (nine in total) and semi-trailers, but also to supply private vehicles through partnerships forged with the municipality. ". These different stages "will allow us to acquire industrial know-how and skills which could lead to a real industrialization of the process and, why not, the possibility of supplying green energy to the ports of Bastia and Ajaccio.
