by Hydrogeit | Jan 15, 2025 | Development, Germany, Market, News
Nordrhein-Westfalen is further expanding its capacities in the H2 research sector. In September 2024, the expanded HyTechLab4NRW in Duisburg went into operation. Since then, the site of the Center for Fuel Cell Technology has provided even better conditions for research into fuel cells and electrolyzers thanks to its improved infrastructure.
As part of extensive renovation work, the HyTechLab4NRW, which opened in 2019, was brought up to the latest state of the art and better equipped, particularly in terms of media supply, so that larger systems can now also be tested. ZBT Operations Manager Bernd Oberschachtsiek was visibly relieved: “Our temporary facility was the ugliest container in the world. Now we finally have a fully equipped laboratory that is not only technically up to date, but is also visually impressive.”
ZBT CEO Dr. Peter Beckhaus explained: “Today we are talking about fuel cell drives for ships, aircraft and trucks, with outputs ranging from 300 kW to the megawatt range. We have now created the right infrastructure to further research these applications.” Silke Krebs, State Secretary in the NRW Ministry of Economic Affairs, explained: “Hydrogen is a growth market and is of central importance for NRW in particular as an industrial location. We need new technologies and research to shape this future.” Prof. Astrid Westendorf, Vice-Rector for Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen, added: ”This is a real gain for our research infrastructure.”
The first ZBT Hydrogen Days on February 4 and 5 will provide an opportunity to view the improved facilities.
by Monika Roessiger | Dec 13, 2024 | Development, Germany, hydrogen development, Market, News
Patented process as a cost-effective alternative to electrolysis
The course to success of Siqens began with special methanol fuel cells. Then came the electrochemical hydrogen separation (EHS) in addition, based on the self-developed HT-PEM-FC stacks. With their help, hydrogen can be separated from natural gas or waste gases from industry and waste incineration with a high degree of purity. The manufacturer also sees EHS in combination with its own fuel cells as a solution to the last mile problem.
Whether in the South American jungle or at an altitude of 3,000 meters in the Swiss mountains, in a research station in the Antarctic or at a border post in northern Scandinavia – in all these places HT-PEM fuel cells from Siquens are in use, which supply electricity for radio and measuring stations or cameras, as Thomas Klaue, managing director of the company founded as a startup in Munich in 2012, states.
The special methanol fuel cells are also, however, in less exotic places: For example, they serve in the lighting of German highway construction sites or aviation obstruction lighting of wind parks. The “Ecoport” FC systems consist of fuel cell stacks with a high-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane (HT-PEM) and a reformer. “In the reformer, pure hydrogen is obtained from methanol,” according to engineer and doctor of business administration Klaue. “This hydrogen then passes through the HT-PEM fuel cell. Our system works with industrial methanol, however, at a fraction of the cost compared to high-purity methanol.”
These systems therefore differ significantly from direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs), in which a liquid methanol-water mixture is passed through the FC. For that, the methanol has to be as pure as for medical purposes, which is correspondingly expensive, explains Klaue, who has been CEO of Siqens since the end of 2019. The efficiency and power range of DMFCs are comparatively low, and they do not tolerate low temperatures well. Other indirect methanol fuel cells with PEM and reformer are available in both the low and high temperature range, but these would require manufacturer-specific methanol-water mixtures with lower energy density, according to Klaue. With a consumption of 0.6 liters per kilowatt-hour of electricity, Siqens is the market leader in efficiency. The Ecoports, according to Klaue “our bread and butter business,” have a peak electrical output of 800 or 1,500 watts (continuous operation: 500 or 1,000 watts).
FC as a replacement for diesel generators
Methanol, which has long been used in industry, like other liquid fuels, can be transported and stored cost-effectively. Because of this, (methanol) fuel cells are particularly suitable for areas without a connection to an electricity grid and where an uninterruptible power supply must be guaranteed, for example in the emergency power supply for critical infrastructure. Up to now, this function has mostly been performed by diesel generators, but these will little by little be replaced by fuel cells in the future – and not only because of their significantly lower CO2 emissions: They also work more quietly and are free of particulate matter and nitrogen oxides.
Ecoport 800
Demand for the patented systems, with which the southern German company has been on the market since 2019, is rising. For example, agencies, companies and operators of telecommunications systems are interested in the methanol fuel cells from Siqens, which according to Klaue are robust and reliable and can also be used far away from civilization. This applies to all climate zones, from minus 20 to plus 50 degrees Celsius. What’s more, the operating costs are around 75 percent lower than those of diesel generators. This year, the Munich-based company, which employs around 30 people, expects to sell several hundred of its HT-PEM fuel cell systems.
That the need to use hydrogen and fuel cell technologies for reasons of climate protection is increasing is beyond question today. The Siqens CEO stressed however: “We are convinced that the hydrogen economy will only be a success with price-competitive solutions, especially when it comes to last-mile distribution.”
FC as a replacement for diesel generators
In addition to fuel cells, the company has been offering a very special technical solution for producing pure hydrogen since 2022: electrochemical hydrogen separation (EHS). In this patented process, the feed gas flows through an HT-PEM stack, which is also used in the Ecoport, states Klaue. “The stack with the MEAs is comparable to a sieve that, under tension, is only permeable to the hydrogen molecules that have been reduced to protons on the anode side. On the cathode side, the protons get the electrons back. The product is highly pure hydrogen.” With this method, hydrogen can be separated, purified and processed from very different media. This can be natural gas or exhaust gas that is produced in industrial processes or from waste incineration. The hydrogen can also be obtained from natural reservoirs such as natural gas deposits.
And because methanol is a good hydrogen carrier, the EHS system can also avoid the last mile problem: From the methanol transported via the natural gas network, hydrogen is produced directly on site at the consumer’s premises CO2-free. “In 10 liters of methanol, approximately one kilogram of hydrogen is chemically bound,” calculates Thomas Klaue. This is more than in a standard 70-kilogram compressed gas cylinder that contains 50 liters of hydrogen compressed to 200 bar. The yield with that is only 0.8 kilograms. Instead of transporting hydrogen in bundles of heavy steel bottles or in pressure tanks by trailer, as was previously the case, a lot of money can be saved through the employment of methanol fuel cells.
Transport and storage costs currently make up the largest percentage of the hydrogen price. “This is even more true if the deployment location can only be reached by helicopter,” added Klaue. “The ratio of transport weight to useful H2 weight is for methanol ten to one versus one hundred to one for compressed gas cylinders.”
1 kg hydrogen for less than two euros
During EHS, likewise to water electrolysis, electricity is used. However, the energy requirement is significantly lower: Per kilogram of hydrogen, only three to five kilowatt hours of electricity would be needed; so around ten percent of the electricity required for electrolysis. “This produces hydrogen in fuel cell quality at a price of less than two euros per kilogram,” states Klaue. The technology is flexible, scalable and can be adapted to a wide range of gases. Such a system, which only takes up an area of one to two square meters depending on its capacity, can be connected directly to the gas network.
The EHS process could produce a good 100 kilograms of hydrogen per day with three stacks, which is enough for an H2 refueling station, according to Thomas Klaue. The modular design also allows several tonnes per day to meet the needs of an industrial company. “Electrochemical hydrogen separation is definitely an attractive alternative to other H2 technologies, as it consumes comparatively little energy and has a high selectivity for hydrogen,” according to the CEO.
Following an initial pilot project in Australia, there is now a second one in Germany: In the Unterfranken city of Haßfurt, hydrogen is being obtained from the natural gas grid using EHS. The municipal utilities of the city are known as pioneers, because they have been relying on renewable energies since the 1990s: photovoltaics, wind power and biogas from farmers in the region. Since 2016, they have had an electrolyzer to generate hydrogen from surplus wind power.
Now, with the help of EHS technology from Siqens, they are tapping into the municipal gas grid as a source of hydrogen. This is done in cooperation with the Helmholtz-Institut Erlangen-Nürnberg and the Institut für Energietechnik of the university Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule Amberg-Weiden. The hydrogen separated from the natural gas is compressed and stored and, as needed, converted into electricity via a fuel cell.
As many gas network operators want to add green hydrogen to their natural gas in the future, such solutions for separating and processing climate-neutral gas could soon become more significant. “By separating the gases using EHS at the point of consumption, the end customer can be supplied directly with high-purity ‘green’ hydrogen,” says Thomas Klaue. In other words, hydrogen of the quality required for industrial processes or fuel cell vehicles. For this reason, Klaue also argues vehemently in favor of maintaining the gas grids.
In February of this year, he publicly appealed to the German economy ministry to reconsider the dismantling plans; for cost reasons alone. “In addition, the planned H2 core grid will not be able to supply the entire country with green energy for a long time without great effort,” he says. However, because the nationwide gas network is largely suitable for hydrogen, the infrastructure should be used for the future transportation of green hydrogen, to supply industry and communities with climate-friendly energy.
by Hydrogeit | Jul 17, 2024 | Europe, Germany, News
Despite challenging times, there are still reports of new H2 projects going ahead. For example, in mid-May 2024, building work began on a 10-megawatt electrolyzer in the Magdeburg region of Germany. It is here, in Osterweddingen, that energy company Enertrag intends to make green hydrogen using power generated from its own wind turbines.
Of the 900 metric tons that will be initially produced each year, a proportion will be fed into the Ontras hydrogen pipeline. A supply of hydrogen will also be funneled to the planned hydrogen mobility hub which will serve Keyou H2 trucks, among other vehicles. In addition, Ryze Power intends to use hydrogen to power its construction machinery.
Enertrag board member Tobias Bischof-Niemz said: “Hydrogen is an essential element in the energy transition and offers solutions for the decarbonization of various sectors, from heavy industry to long-distance transportation. By being connected directly to our nearby wind and solar farms, this electrolyzer will not only produce green hydrogen, but will also help attract other industries to the region and increase local value creation.”
The electrolyzer will be installed in the local industrial park which is located only around 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the proposed Intel chip factory. According to Enertrag, it will be used to support the energy system by offsetting fluctuations in the generation of electricity from wind and solar sources, thereby relieving the strain on the power grid.
by Lewitz | Jun 13, 2024 | Energy storage, international, News
Solar Global operates electrolyzer plant in Czech Republic
An electrolyzer in the town of Napajedla in southeastern Czech Republic has produced the country’s first green hydrogen from solar power. The industrial green hydrogen production facility is run by Solar Global, one of the leading companies in the Czech renewables sector.
This hydrogen plant should be seen primarily as a pioneering initiative since its capacity of 230 kilowatts is relatively low. It can consume up to 246 megawatt-hours per year of electricity. The power is sourced from a photovoltaic plant with a peak capacity of 611 kW. Battery storage is used to buffer the discrepancies between generation and consumption. In line with the Czech hydrogen strategy, most of the hydrogen ends up as fuel.
“Green hydrogen produced in this way can be used at the refueling station in Napajedla to fill up not just trucks and buses, but also cars with environmentally friendly hydrogen propulsion,” explained Vítězslav Skopal, owner of Solar Global Group. According to Solar Global, the plant can supply around 8 metric tons (8.8 US tons) of green hydrogen. This is enough to enable a car to travel 800,000 kilometers (500,000 miles) and a hydrogen bus to travel 80,000 kilometers (50,000 miles).
Covering the entire value chain
Hydrogen production is expected to develop gradually into a major area of industry in the Czech Republic. As this happens, the Solar Global Group foresees an entire value chain developing alongside it. In addition to hydrogen production, the company has its sights set on the operation of vehicles equipped with fuel cells. Ultimately, the corporation also wants to get involved in the supply of hydrogen via refueling stations. “Of course all this depends on the building of other requisite technologies, in other words hydrogen compression, storage and refueling stations, and these are the next stages of our pilot project,” said Skopal.
The production of the country’s first kilogram of hydrogen was funded by the State Environmental Fund of the Czech Republic or SEF CR, which has been in existence since 1992. So far the environment ministry has financially supported four electrolyzers from the environment fund. “Two further projects are under examination,” stated Lucie Früblingová, spokeswoman for the state environment fund. The schemes under which hydrogen projects can receive support are currently being widened. The number of assisted projects and the amount distributed in subsidies are set to rise in the future.
Traditional producers look to green hydrogen
Among those due to receive funding is Orlen Unipetrol, the Czech Republic’s largest producer of “gray,” fossil-based hydrogen. The company, which is part of Polish petroleum giant Orlen, intends to install an electrolyzer in conjunction with a solar power plant in Litvínov. Groundwork will begin sometime between 2024 and 2025, with the production of green hydrogen slated to start at the end of 2028. However, Unipetrol is well aware that its own production can only cover a fraction of its hydrogen demand and is already considering hydrogen imports.
Another electrolyzer being aided by the environment fund belongs to the Sev.en Energy Group. The mining company operates what was once the extensive opencast brown coal mine in Most, Komořany, which will soon be exhausted, as well as the associated coal power plants. Sev.en is planning a massive expansion in solar power plants totaling 120 MW. The proposals include a 17.5-MW electrolyzer that will manufacture 360 metric tons (400 US tons) of green hydrogen a year starting in 2027. The costs for the hydrogen system, according to Sev.en’s head of transformation Pavel Farkač, run to around CZK 700 million, which equates to EUR 28.5 million, a substantial proportion of which is to be covered by subsidies from the environment fund.
In October 2023, the Czech government presented the draft of an energy and climate plan for the years leading up to 2030. The press release from the environment ministry stated that the use of hydrogen would increase within industry and the mobility sector by the end of the decade. The plan also foresees that electricity derived from brown coal will no longer be exported.
Author: Aleksandra Fedorska
National hydrogen strategy for the Czech Republic: www.hytep.cz/images/dokumenty-ke-stazeni/Czech_Hydrogen_Strategy_2021.pdf
by Dr. Ulrike Beyer | Jun 11, 2024 | Development, Germany, hydrogen development, News
Technology platform for high-rate electrolyzer production
The cooperative FRHY project, which forms part of the German flagship hydrogen initiative H2Giga, is aimed at scaling up electrolyzer manufacturing. Increasing electrolyzer production rates requires new technical solutions. To facilitate the development of these essential technologies a model stack was created as a point of reference. Named the FRHY Stack, it is a high-efficiency electrolyzer with the potential for industrial mass production which also supports knowledge and technology transfer.
The ten cells that in total make up the FRHY Stack each consist of two formed and joined plates referred to as bipolar plates or BPPs. These two half plates are initially stamped in a high-speed rolling process on a system newly developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU. They are then joined together in a welding process that has been adapted to take account of the high processing speed.
FRHY – the reference stack
Another key component is the proton exchange membrane or PEM which belongs to the membrane electrode assembly, otherwise known as the MEA. The membrane is fabricated in a new inkjet printing process devised by Fraunhofer ENAS. The BPP and MEA are embedded into a stiff film framework, the subgasket, to which various seals are added as well as the porous transport layer (PTL), more commonly known as the gas diffusion layer or GDL. The result is a cell design that is suitable for industrial mass manufacturing.
Within the stack, which consists of several cells, the medium and the hydrogen are conveyed through channels on the edge of each cell. Two gold-coated contact plates at the end of the stack supply the stack with energy.
The FRHY reference stack is suitable for a variety of application scenarios and has a high level of efficiency. It is the first time that the model hydrogen factory Referenzfabrik.H2 has made a platform available which will enable a number of sectors and organizations to perform technical and economic assessments of individual components, develop their own business model and position themselves in the supply chain.
Fig. 1: FRHY reference stack, Source: Referenzfabrik.H2
In the initial development phase, a design portfolio was created to define the main parameters for creating cell or stack components and provide a means of contrasting different designs. This allowed two very functional designs to be configured that enable cells to be produced in large numbers. Version M is the type used for the FRHY Stack; its manufacturing potential is based on metal BPPs.
Version K was also developed. This features a newly created intelligent plastic frame that can be made in large numbers in an automated production process. Based on these designs, engineers were able to produce components and bring them together in the FRHY Stack.
As a result of the stack, there is now a valuable frame of reference for the development of the next high-rate generation of electrolyzers. Even electrolyzers in the (price-sensitive) kilowatt range are scarcely marketable without high-rate production processes. If, however, the sale prices are reasonable, a huge market would open up just to meet the energy storage needs of wind farms or residential buildings. What’s more, the stack could be used for application scenarios in the megawatt range. The coupling of stacks would allow plants to produce large quantities of hydrogen, for example in order to supply the manufacturing and raw materials industries.
Direction of FRHY project
FRHY is taking a technology-neutral approach to developing new modules for highly scalable electrolyzer production and to the configuration of digital twins. The objective is to create a portfolio of essential production steps for technical and economic assessment to help industry select the right production processes while considering key parameters, in particular scalability, quality and cost. For instance, production options can be calculated and possible manufacturing strategies can be analyzed, e.g., taking account of automation or integrative continuous process management. This approach not only allows capital costs to be quantified but also return on investment to be deduced in relation to the planned production quantity.
The FRHY methodology also enables production lines to be linked up into one overall value system. This creates transparency and supports the building of supply chains. In addition, it makes it easier to plan factories and make decisions about effective vertical integration.
The unbiased FRHY approach gives an enormous boost to production and testing processes for electrolyzers and ensures a high degree of technology readiness. A key focus here is on furnishing proof of robust and scalable processes. This will additionally benefit the quality and longevity of the product. This is because stable processes also ensure the economic mass production of high-quality electrolyzers and support the further advancement of both production and the product itself.
H2Giga and FRHY
The German education and research ministry is supporting Germany’s entry into the hydrogen economy through its backing of the H2Giga flagship hydrogen project. Over the course of the four-year initiative which runs until March 2025, the project will seek to overcome existing obstacles to the series production of large-scale water electrolyzers. FRHY is a joint project involving six Fraunhofer institutes: IWU, ENAS, IPT, IPA, IMWS and IWES. The decentralized structure means the project is able to incorporate regional partners and networks in Baden-Württemberg, Nordrhein-Westfalen and central Germany.
Potential
FRHY links up physical and virtual solutions and consequently has an enormous impact in terms of innovation on electrolyzer production. This approach has resulted in ambitious plans that will smooth the path toward electrolyzer mass production.
The development of new, configurable production and testing modules for key process steps in stack manufacture will lower production costs by at least 50 percent and improve product quality by 20 percent while also considerably extending the life of complete electrolyzer systems.
The research questions that need to be resolved primarily entail expanding the technological limits of electrolyzer production. Parallel to this, it is expected that the scientific findings will boost the development of a production-optimized next generation of electrolyzers. The FRHY project, and the FRHY Stack especially, have laid the necessary foundations to bring this about.
Digitally mapped production and testing modules are integrated into a technology portfolio for stack production. This toolkit combines the results from physical and digital analyses. For the first time this lets industry deduce urgently needed quantifiable information about output volumes, costs and areas of operation depending on the production method employed.
Opportunities
The FRHY reference stack is the first example of a solution being created to provide a platform for the industrial mass production of electrolyzer components. Deploying continuous roll-to-roll manufacturing technologies is not the only way to increase production volumes. New processes, too, that are consciously designed to make sparing use of critical materials, e.g., platinum, iridium and titanium, as well as in-situ testing technologies bring about a substantial decrease in production costs.
The result is a genuine point of reference and a technological “diamond in the rough” that companies can implement in an industrial setting. The reference stack therefore lays important groundwork for the future availability of hydrogen systems at affordable prices – and ultimately for a hydrogen retail price that is economically viable.
Fig. 2: Rotary stamping of bipolar plates: The structure of the bipolar plate is stamped by a pair of rollers. The main advantage of this method is the high processing speed that leads to a substantial increase in output figures, scaling effects and finally to a significant reduction in cost.
Referenzfabrik.H2
The overall coordination for the FRHY project is undertaken by the model hydrogen factory Referenzfabrik.H2 developed by Fraunhofer IWU. The objective of Referenzfabrik.H2 is to be a pacemaker for the industrial mass production of electrolyzers and fuel cells. The project brings together science and industry as part of a value-creation community that works in collaboration to swiftly ramp up the efficient, scalable production of hydrogen systems.
The factory is underpinned by Fraunhofer IWU’s research and development projects. Solutions that arise from these projects provide the basic structure for manufacturing. This is where industrial corporations are able to contribute their expertise and develop this further together with the participating Fraunhofer institutes and other industrial enterprises. Only through the close cooperation of academia and industry will it be possible to produce high-performance systems for mass deployment more rapidly and at more affordable cost.
Author: Dr. Ulrike Beyer, Referenzfabrik.H2 at Fraunhofer IWU
