January 19th, 2023 — Green hydrogen has become a focus of deep decarbonization roadmaps because it can be made useful for many industrial processes our economy depends on, from fertilizer and steel manufacturing to industrial heat and petrochemical refining. It can also be used in a wide range of energy applications, including synthetic fuel production for long-haul transportation like aviation and shipping and long duration energy storage. The energy industry has started to take notice, setting the stage for a global competition to become a leader in green hydrogen generation.
In order to help transition new electrolyzer technologies from the lab to commercial scale, Powerhouse client and global renewable energy leader Enel created the NextHy platform to accelerate the commercialization of green hydrogen. It consists of both a Booster Program, already launched to support lower technology readiness level (TRL) startups and an upcoming Industrial Lab in Sicily to validate higher TRL technologies in a real industrial environment. As the largest installer of renewables in the world outside of China, and alongside its existing network of industrial partners, Enel is positioning itself to be a global leader in green hydrogen production, enabling industrial partners to use green hydrogen at scale.
Traditional electrolyzers all have disadvantages for scaling hydrogen production
Today the global hydrogen market is about $130B, but less than 1% of hydrogen production is low-carbon. Nevertheless, DNV forecasts that by 2050 we will have 3.1 TW of electrolyzer capacity globally, with an annual expenditure of close to $400B per year for hydrogen production.
There are three main types of electrolyzer: proton-exchange membranes (PEM), solid oxide cells, and alkaline. Alkaline cells are historically the lowest cost option, but have lacked key features like intermittent operability (PEM) and reversibility (solid oxide).
Columbus, Ohio-based startup Power to Hydrogen’s anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzer: the best aspects of traditional electrolyzers in one
The AEM electrolyzer uses earth-abundant and low-cost materials like alkaline cells, can be used intermittently like PEM cells, and can operate reversibly like solid oxide.
Power to Hydrogen designed their flagship product, the Clean Energy Bridge, around their AEM cell, building an integrated on-site hydrogen generation and energy storage system.
The Clean Energy Bridge provides on-site generation of high pressure (200+ bar) hydrogen, onsite generation of pure oxygen, and backup power (including long duration energy storage).
How Powerhouse helped Enel partner with Power to Hydrogen
Enel partnered with Powerhouse on a workshop looking at new electrolysis technologies, working to co-develop a list of possible startups and technologies to analyze and submit to Enel’s Global Power Generation business unit. Enel saw Power to Hydrogen at a pitch event and asked Powerhouse to reach out and evaluate their solution given Powerhouse’s technical expertise.
Powerhouse met with the founders of Power to Hydrogen in 2020, and identified several other potential electrolysis partners working on other technologies.
Powerhouse was impressed by three key innovations by Power to Hydrogen: their technology can be operated flexibly, at high pressure, and reversibly (it can generate power from hydrogen).
In March 2022, Enel commended three other startups scouted by Powerhouse (1s1 Energy, Advanced Ionics, and EvolOH) and named Power to Hydrogen the overall winner of the Enel Green Power Green Hydrogen Challenge.
In November 2022 Enel selected Power to Hydrogen for its NextHy Booster program and funded a pilot 10 kW testing of the Power to Hydrogen AEM electrolyzer at Bright Labs, with the supervision and support of academic experts at the Italian University Politecnico di Torino.
Powerhouse is proud to help Enel to partner with companies like Power to Hydrogen. We look forward to working with Enel Group Silicon Valley Innovation Hub Manager Andrea Sguazzi and the entire Enel Innovability team to help startups like Power to Hydrogen achieve scale.
Special thanks to Powerhouse Innovation Analyst Natalie Geise, PhD.
Authored by Powerhouse Technical Director, Octavi Semonin, PhD.
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