Modular power station for the production primarily of hydrogen from solar energy and a method of generating electric energy

A modular power station primarily for production of hydrogen using solar energy, said power station comprising:

• a conversion module for converting solar energy to biomass, said conversion module comprising:
• an agricultural cultivation plot of C4 plants convertible into biomass,
• a harvesting unit for harvesting said plants from said plot as biomass, and
• a processing unit receiving said biomass from said harvesting unit for transforming said biomass into a pregasification product, said processing unit comprising:
• at least one device selected from a chopping device and a pelletizing device for preparing said pregasification product, and
• means for storing said pregasification product and dimensioned to compensate for fluctuations in amount of processed biomass due to growth conditions;
• an allothermic gasification module operating at the lowest temperature at which said processed biomass is gasified in the presence of water vapor to obtain a hydrogen-containing fuel gas with at least 50% hydrogen, said gasification module comprising:
• a gasification reactor for transforming said pregasification product into said hydrogen-containing fuel gas and operable at a temperature and for a residence time of said product in said reactor sufficient to suppress tar condensation downstream of a gasification zone of said reactor,
• a loading device between said processing unit and said gasification module for supplying said pregasification product from said processing unit to said gasification reactor,
• means for generating said water vapor with a partial stream of said fuel gas, and
• means selectively utilizing another partial stream of said fuel gas or waste heat for drying harvested biomass;
• and
• a storage module connected to said gasification module by a fuel-gas purifier and storing the fuel gas or hydrogen derived from the fuel gas, said storage module having a capacity matched to a capacity of said gasification module,
• said conversion module, said gasification module and said storage module having main components prefabricated as modular units which are transportable selectively in an assembled and a disassembled state.