One kilogram of hydrogen contains 39.4 kWh of energy, but producing it with today’s commercial electrolysers typically costs about 52.5 kWh. Australian company Hysata says its new capillary electrolyser cell cuts energy costs to 41.5 kWh, breaking efficiency records and being cheaper to install and operate. The company promises that green hydrogen will cost around $1.50 per kilogram in a few years.
Green hydrogen is vital for the decarbonization of difficult sectors such as steel, heavy transport or chemicals. However, green hydrogen is currently too expensive to compete with fossil fuels, largely due to the low efficiency of existing electrolyzers.
The University of Wollongong (UOW) spin-off company, Hysata, is on track to commercialize the most efficient electrolyser in the world.
Hysata’s capillary electrolysis cell can produce green hydrogen from water with 98% energy efficiency.
This productivity is higher than other existing electrolyser technologies and well above the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) target for 2050.
According to the company, the electrolyser will offer the cheapest hydrogen in the worldwill save hydrogen producers billions of dollars in electricity costs and allow green hydrogen to outperform that derived from fossil fuels.
The technology will make it possible to produce hydrogen below US$1.50/kg by the mid-2020s. This is essential for green hydrogen to be commercially viable and for decarbonizing the most complex sectors.
The revolutionary hydrogen electrolyser technology was invented by researchers at the University of Wollongong (UOW) and ARC’s Center of Excellence in Electromaterials Science (ACES).
Hysata’s global chlorinator system has been designed for ease of manufacture, scale-up and installation, delivering an overall system efficiency of 95%, equivalent to 41.5 kWh/kg, compared to 75% or less for existing electrolyser technologies.
The company says this major shift in hydrogen technology is on track to accelerate the global hydrogen economy and reduce the cost of green production in Australia and around the world, positioning Australia as the one of the main manufacturers of electrolysers and producer of ecological hydrogen.
Hysata is proud to be at the forefront of this technological innovation and to introduce a whole new class of electrolysers as monumental as the shift from internal combustion engine to electric motors.
Gerry Swiegers, Chief Technology Officer at Hysata.
More information: www.nature.com (English text).
Via hysata.com