Hydrogen Industry Snapshot

Volvo Group unveiled the first vehicle (a load carrier for mining and quarrying) made out of green steel.

More vehicles and machines will follow in 2022 in a series of concept vehicles and components using fossil-free steel from SSAB. In 2026, SSAB plans to supply the market with fossil-free steel at a commercial scale after converting its Oxelösund blast furnaces into an electric arc furnace and using HYBRIT technology.

The Mission Possible Partnership (MPP), an organisation dedicated to decarbonising seven of the hardest to abate industries with 300 members, has released plans and the estimated costs of slashing carbon emissions for three sectors – steel, shipping and aviation. Together, the three industries addressed in these initial plans emit close to 6 Gt of CO2/year in the global atmosphere and are critical to limiting global warming to 1.5C. The strategy also focuses on the need to ramp up the demand and supply of hydrogen to fight emissions. A further update is planned for 2022 will establish industry-backed carbon reduction pathways for the cement, aluminium, trucking and chemical industries.

NextChem (Maire Tecnimont Group) and the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies have presented technology and systems breakthroughs for closing the region’s waste cycle at Tuscany, Italy. The issue was discussed at a conference in Pisa, promoted by NextChem, a Maire Tecnimont Group company, and the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies. Tuscany needs systems solutions to close the waste management cycle, with 2.28 million tonnes/year of municipal waste and 10.1 million tonnes/year of special waste.

VoltH2 (15.9% owned by Vision Hydrogen Corporation) has received building and environmental permits to construct the first large-scale green hydrogen plant in the North Sea Port of Vlissingen, the Netherlands. The 25 MW green hydrogen plant will produce up to 3,500 tonnes/year of green hydrogen and will be scalable to 100 MW or 14,000 tonnes. VoltH2 is in the advanced stage of permitting a second green hydrogen plant in Terneuzen in joint development with Virya Energy, with an initial capacity of 3,500 tonnes/year of hydrogen and scalable to 75 MW or over 10,500 tonnes. It has commissioned Sweco to design the initial green hydrogen plants in Vlissingen and Terneuzen, which will feature dedicated hydrogen storage and access to multimodal transport systems to support distribution.

Wrightbus, which produced the world’s first hydrogen double-decker bus, will be on display in the UK Government-hosted Global Investment Summit on 19th October, which will showcase the best of UK innovation and green technology. The Summit will demonstrate Britain’s commitment to green industries of the future ahead of COP26 and promote the UK as the best destination for foreign investment.

Falcon (UK commercial catering equipment manufacturer) has added a range of hydrogen-powered commercial catering equipment to its portfolio with Enertek. Introducing hydrogen-ready appliances is vital if the food service industry is to meet its net-zero carbon commitments. Falcon development works were backed by BEIS (The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy) via the Hy4Heat program. Falcon’s hydrogen-powered line-up includes a new variant of its award-winning Dominator Six Burner G3101 Range as well as chargrills, griddles, grills, and fryers.

ITM Power plc announced the launch of a placing by way of an accelerated bookbuild by Investec Bank plc and Merrill Lynch International. The placing has now closed and was oversubscribed. It has conditionally placed 57,495,000 placing shares with institutional investors and certain directors at 400 pence per new share. The total gross proceeds from the capital raise will be around £250 million.

Schaeffler is developing new technologies for the industrialisation of hydrogen production. It leads the sub-project “Stack Scale-up – Industrializing PEM Electrolysis” of the H2Giga hydrogen flagship project, which aims to develop new, scalable technologies and production processes for PEM-low-temperature electrolysis stacks. Over 130 companies and research institutions are involved in H2Giga and have received around € 500 million funding from Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

MyFC received an order for a Proof-of-Concept project for an automated warehouse robot from Porsche. Previously, myFC entered into an agreement that has now transformed into a € 203,000 purchase order from Porsche Leipzig for a proof-of-concept project where myFC’s patented fuel cell technology will be integrated into a pilot warehouse robot (Automated Guided Vehicle, AGV) at the logistics centre in Leipzig.

Air Liquide and Saras have signed an MoU to explore the solutions to reduce the carbon footprint of the Sarroch refinery. Both partners will assess the technical and economic feasibility of realising new solutions for capturing and storing CO2 emissions related to the Sarroch refinery processes. The first-phase study aimed at determining different carbon capture solutions, while the second phase would be to conduct a more extensive feasibility study that includes CO2 transport and storage solutions. Air Liquide will also explore the possibility of reducing the carbon footprint of its existing oxygen and nitrogen production capacity on the site, using renewable electricity in the context of long-term energy purchase agreements.

AKKA has unveiled Green&Fly, its fully electric, hydrogen-powered concept aircraft, featuring a disruptive design based around a rhombohedral wing shape, which is designed to carry up to 30 passengers for a range of 500 km. It is powered by hydrogen fuel cell batteries and supercapacitors. Green&Fly is a regional transport alternative that is a light and small aircraft (classification CS25). It can cope with runways of any length (Short Take Off Landing- STOL), it can operate on existing networks of aerodromes, thus leveraging underused infrastructures.

Mahle Powertrain is supporting Liebherr Machines Bulle SA in their research aimed at developing hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engines. Their work involves the use of Mahle’s prechamber jet ignition system (MJI). Engine tests have shown that the mixture of hydrogen and air can be ignited and burned at a high compression ratio. This makes the combustion process very efficient and stable and can be used in heavy-duty and off-road applications, such as excavators, track vehicles, and wheeled loaders.

Proton Motor stated that GKN Hydrogen placed another follow-up order through GKN Powder Metallurgy division with 25 orders have been received for the Proton Motor product “PM Module S8” to implement the innovative HY2 hydrogen storage system.

Denis Manturov, the Minister of Industry and Trade in Russia, said that Russia would be ready to start producing green hydrogen in Karelia and supply it to Finland within two years. He also mentioned building a hydrogen pipeline from Finland and Sweden through the Gulf of Bothnia to Germany. He added that Russian companies TMK and Severstal are ready to supply pipes and have the necessary competencies to conduct EPC works.

Ryze Hydrogen (the low carbon hydrogen distribution company) has agreed with HyNet for hydrogen distribution from the facility. Under the MoU, HyNet to supply 1,500 tonnes/year of hydrogen to Ryze, which would be used to power hydrogen buses produced in the UK by Wrightbus and various industries across the area.

H2IT (Italian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association) and Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center have established Innovahy, an initiative to encourage the growth path of innovative SMEs and startups in the hydrogen sector. The aim is to boost the supply chain development in Italy through joint activities and enhance the initiatives under development involving universities, startups, and innovative SMEs through ad hoc initiatives.

DynaCERT Inc. announced that its strategic alliance with Mosolf SE & Co. AG, which was announced in October 2019, had been terminated. The strategic partnership initially included a purchase order for 1,000 HydraGEN™ units, a dealership agreement for Germany and an understanding to negotiate a joint venture for the passenger car aftermarket in Europe. The objectives of the initial arrangement had not materialised, and only 48 units out of the 1,000 units were delivered.

The DoE has awarded Shell-led consortium $6 million to demonstrate the feasibility of large-scale liquid hydrogen storage. Shell and CB&I Storage Solutions will provide an additional $3 million each for a total project fund of $12 million aiming to enable large-scale liquid hydrogen (LH2) storage for international trade applications. It will demonstrate that a large-scale LH2 tank with a capacity ranging from 20k to 100k cubic meters is feasible and cost-competitive at import and export terminals. The consortium partners include Shell, McDermott’s CB&I Storage Solutions, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, GenH2 and the University of Houston.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced $20 million in funding to demonstrate the technology to produce clean hydrogen energy from nuclear power. The project, based in Arizona, will make progress on DOE’s H2@Scale vision for clean hydrogen across multiple sectors and help meet the Department’s Hydrogen Shot goal of $1/kg in one decade. The project, led by PNW Hydrogen LLC, will receive $12 million from the DOE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO) and $8 million from DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy (NE). The project will produce clean hydrogen from nuclear power at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in Phoenix, Arizona. Around 6 tonnes of stored hydrogen will be used to produce approximately 200 MWh of electricity during high demand and making other chemicals and fuels.

The Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (MTD) unveils a zero-emission on-site hydrogen production station powered by a solar array that spans nearly 5,500 panels. The clean hydrogen will fuel 60-foot hydrogen fuel cell buses for its transit system. Riding on Sunshine project will see the deployment of zero-emission, fuel cell-electric Xcelsior CHARGE H2™ buses from New Flyer of America Inc. refuelled with a 100% renewable hydrogen supply powered by solar energy.

NewHydrogen, Inc. has provided an updated overview of its sponsored research program at UCLA, which is focused on lowering the cost of producing green hydrogen. Preliminary results of the research show a highly effective method of reducing the cost of green hydrogen by replacing iridium in PEM electrolysers with non-precious and durable metal-based oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts. The company is also developing hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts. Researchers will continue to explore additional improvements to both the OER and the HER catalysts to maximise an actual water electrolysis device’s overall performance before scaling up the process for studies with a prototype electrolyser in late 2022.

Coates International, Ltd. has achieved a significant breakthrough and is now able to harness and deliver Gaseous Hydrogen to power the company’s industrial CSRV® Electric Power Generator 100 – 150 KW.  The Generator energises the hydrogen reactor with 3KW of power needed to produce the Gaseous Hydrogen, which is then delivered as the fuel to run the CSRV® Generator. The various Coates technologies have become viable as extremely low-cost in the industrial and commercial green energy power generation markets.

Hyzon Motors has given a glimpse into its largest production site, the Hyzon Motors Europe facility located in Winschoten, the Netherlands. It opened in March 2021 and has a capacity of up to 500 trucks yearly. In 2022, the company expects to increase capacity to up to 1,000 trucks annually through operational updates and a second shift. The Winschoten facility will be the European hub for vehicle assembly and the development of new vehicle technology, such as the easy-to-assemble, lightweight hydrogen storage system.

Nikola Corporation will collaborate with PGT Trucking, Inc. to advance electric drive heavy-duty transport. This collaboration includes a Letter of Intent (LOI) to lease 100 Nikola Tre heavy-duty fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) following the satisfactory completion of a Nikola Tre FCEV demonstration program under terms to be agreed to between the parties. The lease order will include the Nikola Tre FCEV, scheduled maintenance and hydrogen fuelling solutions. Deliveries of the FCEVs to PGT are expected to start in 2023 when production commences at Nikola’s Coolidge, Arizona manufacturing facility.

Universal Hydrogen announced a funding round yielding $62 million in new capital. New investors in the round include Mitsubishi HC Capital, Tencent, Stratos, GE Aviation, Waltzing Matilda Aviation, Fourth Realm, Hawktail, Marc Benioff’s TIME Ventures, Jeff Wilke, and Spencer Rascoff’s 75 and Sunny Ventures. This brings Universal Hydrogen’s total capital raised to date to $85 million. Universal Hydrogen anticipates entry into commercial service in 2025 with a certified retrofit conversion kit for existing ATR 72 and De Havilland Canada Dash-8 regional airliners and a green hydrogen fuel services offering.

Plug Power unveiled its Hyvia hydrogen ‘Renault Master Van H2-TECH prototype’ at the 2021 Plug Power Symposium. The zero-emission Renault Master Van is equipped with a 30 kW fuel cell engine based on Plug Power’s ProGen technology platform and is expected to be available in 2022.

In Canada, Huron Clean Energy, the Upper Nicola Band, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures and Carbon Engineering (CE), has started preliminary engineering and design work on a large-scale, commercial facility in British Columbia to 100 million litres/year of ultra-low carbon produce fuel using atmospheric CO2 and clean hydroelectricity. The plant will combine atmospheric carbon dioxide with hydrogen to produce renewable fuel, such as gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. The project is expected to create demand for around 25k tonnes/year of green hydrogen.

Dover has completed the acquisition of Liqal B.V., a supplier of liquefied natural gas hydrogen refuelling equipment and solutions. Liqal has now part of the Dover Fueling Solutions operating unit within Dover’s Fueling Solutions segment.

Antofagasta Minerals is setting up a pilot scheme to advance the use of hydrogen in large mining equipment, such as mine haulage trucks. The project, promoted by the Hydra Consortium, aims to develop and test the technology needed to replace diesel in these heavy-duty vehicles and thus reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Hydra Consortium includes Engie, Australian mining think tank Mining3, Csiro Chile, Mitsui and Antofagasta Minerals. Fuel cells and a prototype battery-powered powertrain will be installed to simulate the operation of a hydrogen-fuelled mine haulage truck at Centinela. The project is supported by Corfo, Chile’s Economic Development Agency.

Enterprize Energy Pte Ltd has signed an MoU with the government of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte to identify and develop offshore wind power, green hydrogen and green ammonia projects. The company will analyse the opportunities for multi-MW offshore wind projects and a joint feasibility study of desalination centres and green hydrogen production.

Brazil’ Ceará hosted International Seminar on green hydrogen (14th October) and positions itself as the fuel house of the future. From February until now, nine companies have shown interests in producing hydrogen in the Port of Pecém. The Australian Energix Energy and Fortescue, the French Qair, White Martins and Neoenergia signed during this period. Morover, last month, EDP announced the first H2V plant in Ceará, which should start operating in 2022. On 13th October, Governor Camilo Santana announced four new protocols with industries to produce Green Hydrogen in Ceará. The ceremony was attended by representatives of the companies Eneva, Diferencial, Hytron and H2Hellium. The governor hinted that by the end of the month, the total number of companies interested in hydrogen in Ceara would reach 16.

Australia’s Queensland and Rio Tinto have signed a statement of cooperation to make Central Queensland an industrial and renewable energy powerhouse. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said supporting investment in renewables and hydrogen was part of Queensland’s plan for economic recovery from COVID-19. The agreement will ensure Central Queensland can take advantage of its natural energy and drive employment and economic outcomes from investment in renewable energy projects. The cooperation will help the future competitiveness of Queensland, adding value to a natural energy advantage to drive employment and economic outcomes for the state.

The Labor party has launched a petition for the Gong Shuttle requesting the Minister for Transport and Roads and the Minister for Environment and Energy in the New South Wales Government. It asked for trials and tests on the feasibility of decarbonising transport with hydrogen by using the free Gong Shuttle as a hydrogen bus trial. The petition also requested to use NSW made buses as part of the free Gong Shuttle fleet to conduct this hydrogen bus trial.

BHP and South Korea’s POSCO signed an MoU to explore greenhouse gas emissions reduction technologies in integrated steelmaking. As part of the MoU, POSCO and BHP also intend to share research on hydrogen-based DR technology, the use of biomass in steelmaking etc. BHP intends to invest up to a US $10 million over the next five years under the MoU, with the opportunity to increase investment in technologies under the trial, drawn from its US$ 400 million Climate Investment Program fund announced in 2019.

Monolith has signed an MoU with SK Inc. to pursue a joint venture for producing clean hydrogen and carbon black products in South Korea. Under the agreement, Monolith will share its production and technology knowledge with SK Inc. to produce hydrogen and solid carbon products in South Korea. SK Inc. will oversee the production, sales and distribution of these products in the market. Monolith currently produces clean hydrogen and carbon black in Hallam, Nebraska.

In South Korea, Western Power plans to build a 40 MW fuel cell power plant at the Ssangyong Cement Plant in Mungyeong City. The first phase of the project will start at the end of this year.

Technip Energies has been awarded an Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning (EPCC) contract by NTPC for its Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Based Hydrogen Generation Plant project at Vindhyachal, Madhya Pradesh, India. The contract covers the delivery of a 5 MW Hydrogen Generation Plant using PEM electrolysis technology at a Super Thermal Power station. NTPC is setting up this plant along with two other units, the first is a CO2 capture facility that captures CO2 from flue gas stream of the coal-fired power plant, and the second is a methanol unit using the captured CO2 and the Hydrogen through PEM Electrolyser being supplied by Technip Energies to convert it into green Methanol.

Marubeni Corporation has disclosed that on 23rd September, it signed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) for conducting a technical and commercial feasibility study on the development of a green hydrogen & green ammonia production infrastructure in the Salalah Free Zone in Oman. The project includes building a renewable power plant with OQ SAOC, Linde plc and Dutco Group.