What happens when wind and solar deliver more power than the grid can handle and batteries aren’t the answer?

In this episode of Big Ideas Only, host Mikkel Svold sits down with Pat Han, Technical Director at Skovgaard Energy, the company behind what is called the world’s first dynamic Power-to-X (PtX) ammonia plant.

Pat explains how “dynamic” PtX rides the ups and downs of wind and solar, turning excess electricity into ammonia. The ammonia process can start and stop quickly, that’s why ammonia is a strong first “X”, and how the sector coupling can turn rural areas into thriving energy hubs.

In this episode, you’ll learn about:1. What “dynamic” PtX means and why flexibility is the missing piece for high-renewables grids.
2. Why hydrogen-to-ammonia enables storage and transport.
3. How the process works from water to hydrogen plus nitrogen to ammonia.
4. How PtX is a flexible consumer that balances variability and prevents curtailment.
5. Why market design, ESG, and value-chain planning matter more than tech.
6. The social benefits with a PtX plant, such as jobs, industrial neighbors and revitalizing rural regions.
7. How good local cases unlock permits, public support and future regulation.

Episode content:
01:20 What is Power-to-X? 
08:31 Limits of batteries for grid-scale storage
10:35 Why ammonia?
11:56 Maritime propulsion and industrial demands 
22:01 How "dynamic” is dynamic? Matching power markets without second-by-second thrash
28:20 Turning stored energy back into electricity 
39:34 Why real projects create the political runway for better rules.
43:09 Jobs, keeping young talent local and making rural locations an advantage.
48:40 Industrial symbiosis and sector coupling 
51:11 Strong renewables, grid access, neighbors for heat/power synergies, supportive permitting. 

This podcast is produced by Montanus.