H2OME

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When the power goes out at 3am in the bakehouse

Bakers start before dawn, and an outage at 3am can wreck a whole day's batch. This page is honest about which bakery loads 15 kW can hold, and which it cannot.

Ovens are the honest problem

Electric deck ovens and rack ovens are big loads, and a busy bakery's ovens can draw well over 15 kW on their own. Being plain about that matters. A single system will not run a full electric bakehouse at production pace. Gas ovens change the picture completely, because then the electrical load is the controls, fans and burners' ignition, which is small.

What it would keep running

  • Provers and retarders
  • Walk-in chiller
  • Spiral mixer
  • Shop display fridges
  • Till, EFTPOS and lighting

What it can save

Even where ovens are electric, a lot of the bakery fits within 15 kW: the provers holding dough at the right temperature, the retarder and walk-in chiller, the spiral mixer, the shop's display fridges, lights, the till and EFTPOS. Keeping those running means dough already proving is not lost, and the shop can still open with what is already baked.

With an instant switch-over, mixers and controllers do not lose their settings mid batch. A full electric oven bank would need a larger, multi-unit setup sized in the pilot, and that would only make sense if the business case stacks up for that particular bakery.

How it works →
The H2OME loop: an electrolyser splits water into hydrogen, the hydrogen is stored in a tank for weeks, a fuel cell turns it into electricity for your home, and the water returns to the loop.

Night rate, honestly costed

Bakeries already work at night, but the system charges on cheap off-peak power when the bakery is not running its heaviest loads. Hydrogen stored at 30 bar or less keeps for weeks. Round trip efficiency is 30% or less, so running from stored hydrogen costs more than the grid. Its value is in saving a night's work and a day's trade.

Questions

Can it run electric deck ovens?

Small single-deck ovens may fit within 15 kW alongside a few other loads. A bakehouse with several large electric ovens draws more, and would need a larger, multi-unit setup or would not be a fit. Gas ovens are a much easier match.

Will dough be lost in an outage?

With the battery and inverter in UPS mode, provers and retarders do not notice the switch-over, so dough holds its schedule. Whether it can then be baked depends on the ovens.

Is it cheaper to run the bakery on it?

No. The round trip is 30% or less, so power from stored hydrogen costs more than the grid. It is backup, not a cheaper way to run the bakery day to day.

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