Electrochaea technology awarded the Swiss energy prize Watt d'Or

2020_Preisverleihung_Watt_dOr_BundesamtfuerEnergie_Kursaal_Bern — Award for power-to-gas technology: The Watt d’Or is one of the most prestigious energy awards in Switzerland. This year, the Swiss demonstration plant of the STORE&GO project won the award. The technological core is the Electrochaea biological power-to-methane reactor. © Swiss Federal Office of Energy, 2020.

It is an excellent start to the new year for Electrochaea GmbH and the partners of the Horizon2020 project STORE&GO. STORE&GO’s power-to-gas demonstration facility in Solothurn, Switzerland, operated by Regio Energie Solothurn, received the prestigious Watt d’Or award for innovative contributions in the renewable energy category from the Swiss Federal Office of Energy. The core of the plant is the biological methanation system developed by Electrochaea, which is a key technology for industry and energy providers for the storage of renewable energy, the production of climate-neutral natural gas and for CO₂ recycling.

Biological methanation with archaea in the STORE&GO plant

Electricity from renewable energy sources is first converted by electrolysis into hydrogen in the Regio Energie Solothurn hybrid plant. Second, Electrochaea’s biological methanation process is used to produce biomethane of grid quality, which can be stored on the grid for many uses. The combustion of this green methane is CO₂ neutral, as the methanation process uses CO₂ released from biogenic sources. The power-to-gas plant has been injecting renewable methane into the Swiss gas grid since June 2019.

In addition to Regio Energie Solothurn and Electrochaea, the STORE&GO consortium includes the University of Applied Sciences in Rapperswil, SVGW, Empa and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.

About Electrochaea GmbH

Based on biocatalysis, Electrochaea offers a power-to-gas key technology with multiple national and international patents, which cost-effectively recycles CO2, stores energy from renewable electricity, and at the same time produces renewable biomethane that can be stored long-term and used at will. The first industrial-scale plants are operating successfully in the USA, Switzerland and Denmark. 23 employees work for Electrochaea at the headquarters in Munich-Planegg, and in Denmark. The CEO is Mich Hein and the CTO is Doris Hafenbradl.