There is huge interest in hydrogen as a solution to net zero, an alternative fuel sources, a fix for energy security and energy storage and even as a wealth creator, but how far has hydrogen really come, relative to its other energy technology siblings such as oil & gas, nuclear and renewable energy? This presentation will reveal the world’s energy markets, covering all technologies, at a high level, using EIC DataStream source data, and will then focus in on hydrogen as a relative part of the whole, and revealing the types and locations of hydrogen projects that have actually been funded. The results will perhaps surprise you.

The EU provides many funding programmes in support of hydrogen technology research and Innovation. Given the importance of hydrogen in a Net Zero Emission Europe, research, innovation and deployment are essential. This presentation will elaborate some of the EU funded programmes, explain their interaction in support of technologies of different maturity, and elaborate with some concrete examples. The third Innovation Fund deadline of 3 Billion Euro, is only one of the potential programmes to act in synergy with Horizon Europe, and nationally administered funding programmes, such as the Recovery and Resilience Facility and European Regional Development Fund also play an important role. This presentation will elaborate on elements of these programmes.

Green H2 represents a viable path toward decarbonization and continues to attract global interest and investment. In the past few years, new policies have begun to pave the way for widespread adoption of green H2 as a sustainable energy carrier. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are producing the electrolyzers, fuel cells and fueling equipment that will make adoption a reality. However, there are still great uncertainties related to technology capability to scale up, H2 impact on environment, lack of infrastructures, return of investment. To deliver, manufacturers must quickly scale up with limited resources, achieving execution efficiencies. System methodologies can play a relevant role in achieving project de-risking and accelerating technology developments, through the deployment of techniques such as standardization, modularization and digital optimization.

Achieving the lowest possible Levelized Cost of Hydrogen is one of the key objectives for renewable hydrogen projects. This panel discussion will address several factors on this topic, such as geographical factors, input cost of renewables, optimizing energy architectures and intermittency management systems. This panel will also assess what makes green hydrogen projects commercially successful and mitigation strategies around this.

Sustainably produced hydrogen is a key vector for decarbonising many hard-to-abate industries such as transportation, power and chemical manufacture. Ammonia is a potential hydrogen carrier which offers advantages in containing no carbon molecules and it is a globally traded commodity today. Ammonia cracking allows the conversion of ammonia back into hydrogen to facilitate the transportation of large quantities of clean hydrogen over long distances. Johnson Matthey have nearly 100 years of ammonia cracking heritage and have developed catalysts and commercially available licensed processes to enable this ambition. The intimate interplay between catalyst and process is essential for optimising and scaling up technologies. Safely developing technology is something Johnson Matthey has successfully done for decades in multiple technologies. JM’s methodology deeply reviews and de-risks lower technology readiness level (TRL) elements such as combustion. This means we have full confidence in process developments which are being put into practice in global world scale projects.

In this presentation, we take a deep dive into the industry partnership between Hoeller Electrolyzer and Rolls-Royce and how this is leveraged to scale up PEM electrolyzers.

This talk will focus on the development priorities for proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis (WE) systems to deliver a lower levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) to meet global clean energy demands in a net-zero economy. Leveraging a world-leading fuel cell R&D platform, Gore’s advanced PEM design and technology enables high-efficiency, low total-cost-of-ownership WE systems by breaking through existing performance barriers and reducing engineering trade-offs. Gore’s global supply chain and quality assurance capabilities, developed over 20+ years, also provide the resources and security for the scale-up of efficient WE systems using novel composite PEM - while acknowledging that collaboration is key to achieving our collective net-zero ambitions.

Before hydrogen can be used as an energy carrier on a large scale, considerable hurdles still have to be overcome with regard to transportation and storage. Compared to methanol, the liquefaction of hydrogen requires more energy and its compression to 700 bar also creates higher energy losses. These disadvantages can be avoided if green hydrogen is bound to carbon oxide from renewable sources right after its synthesis by electrolysis applying established processes. A liquid product is generated and established logistics already exist for its transportation and storage. The hydrogen bound in the methanol can be converted back through a methanol reforming reactor. Fraunhofer IMM is developing hydrogen generation systems applying methanol, ethanol and ammonia as hydrogen carriers. Fuel cell applications require purification of the hydrogen, which can be achieved through catalytic processes (preferential oxidation of carbon monoxide) or alternatively through pressure swing adsorption. Both requires previous reforming of the methanol, which is carried out with IMM self-developed catalyst technology, which holds the world-record on activity for methanol steam reforming. The IMM reactor technology for methanol steam reforming is a co-current heat-exchanger, which can utilize off-gases from the fuel cell anode or from a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) purification. This increases the overall process efficiency considerably also when compared to reactor technology heated by electricity from renewable sources. The productivity of the IMM reactors which amounts to 1.5 LH2/(L s) holds another world record for more than a decade. Having demonstrated the feasibility of this unique approach in a multitude of systems of increasing power equivalent (100 W- 5 kW- 35 kW) IMM has recently realized a methanol reformer with 100 kW power equivalent which can be scaled up to the MW size in future. This paves the ground for a large variety of novel application areas of the technology from maritime to small scale stationary and others.

Since COP26, more and more countries are committed to net-zero by mid of century. Looking at sources of GHG emission, there are significant portions are coming from those hard to abate applications, such as ammonia, methanol productions, petroleum refining process, as well as aviation and long-distance transportation, cement and steel productions. To reach net-zero, wide spread of green hydrogen adoption is desired in those applications. As cost of renewables, such as PV and wind, continue to drop lower and lower, green hydrogen gradually becomes cost competitive. Green hydrogen enables deep decarbonization to reach net-zero emission. To accelerate green hydrogen adoption, we need to start with mature alkaline electrolysis technology to minimize both technical and financial risks. In this presentation, recent progresses on alkaline electrolysis technology, equipment and process will be reviewed. Alkaline electrolysis has demonstrated as leading technology to enable green hydrogen adoption.

The presentation will demonstrate the evolution of PEM water electrolysis technology since it was employed in the early missions into space to present-day advanced materials crucial for enabling a sustainable hydrogen ecosystem and helping to achieve the ambitious net-zero decarbonization goals. With more than 50 years of experience in electrochemical applications, Chemours plays a vital role in moving the Hydrogen Economy forward and driving decarbonization at a global scale. Nafion™ Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) technology is the heart of hydrogen production, storage, and use. The Chemours company is committed to advancing technological progress and product innovation by adding production capability with a $200M investment in France to provide direct, domestic access for Europe to Nafion™ ion exchange materials and build on the existing efforts in the US to have a reliable supply chain and robust capacity to help customers grow and fast-track the implementation of hydrogen solutions.

In order to meet the high and increasing demand for hydrogen the industry needs to scale-up. This panel discussion will present lessons from large-scale hydrogen production projects.

Equinor is a Norwegian energy company, currently the largest supplier of natural gas to Germany, a major European oil producer, and a leading pioneer in the development of both floating and bottom-fixed offshore wind technology. Equinor has almost three decades of experience within carbon capture and storage (CCS) on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). As part of Equinor’s roadmap to become a carbon net-zero company and its ambition to help its customers to decarbonize, Equinor is working on several projects to produce low-carbon hydrogen from natural gas, combining its experience within CCS and its leading role in natural gas production. Equinor believes that low-carbon hydrogen is an important building block for a fast and cost-efficient ramp-up of the hydrogen market in Europe, to achieve significant CO2 reductions in the energy-intensive industries and to pave the way for green hydrogen

The challenges raised by energetic transition require innovative industrial developments adapted to local and territorial markets that are showing a growing appetite for sustainable solutions improving their energetic sovereignty. In this respect, coupling of offshore windfarms with hydrogen production is deemed particularly relevant to unlock their full potential. Indeed, it allows massive storage of electricity, thus tempering the difficulties presented by the electrical production intermittency of the renewable energies. Used as a fuel and distributed on the offshore windfarm field, hydrogen may also decarbonize the activities of the maintenance vessels operating in the area. When considering floating windfarms located further from the coast, hydrogen production considerably reduces the cost of the electrical connection to the shore, thus presenting an additional economical interest for the developers. This vision is already shared by many North Sea countries which federated their efforts to develop a growth strategy for offshore green hydrogen produced from offshore windfarms. Official project announcements so far will give rise to 200-500MW renewable H2 production capacity per year from 2027, at least 1GW per year for the period 2031-2032 and over 10GW per year after 2035.

Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) is developing two strongly carbon negative technologies capable of producing negative carbon intensity (CI) hydrogen and steam. These decarbonization technologies both share the ability to use solid fuels such as waste agricultural biomass, construction and demolition debris (C&D), and municipal solid waste (MSW). The first is a chemical looping technology (BrightLoop) that uses an oxygen-carrying metal oxide particle to independently react with air, fuel, or steam in three separate vessels, producing three nearly pure streams of oxygen-depleted exhaust, wet carbon dioxide (CO2), and wet hydrogen, one stream from each vessel. The second is an oxy-combustion process (OxyBright) combined with a bubbling fluidized-bed (BFB) boiler that uses recirculated flue gas and nearly pure oxygen to produce an exhaust gas with very little nitrogen. This gas is more easily purified and compressed for sequestration. By using carbon neutral fuels and combining this with sequestration of the CO2, the produced hydrogen, steam or power is truly carbon negative.

Briefing on the market overview of technologies and advancements in converting waste to chemicals (in general) and specifically to Hydrogen. The presentation will also cover the feasibility analysis of each technology route, in addition to laying out recommendations from both a global and local vision.

Tenaris has developed an intermediate solution for hydrogen storage, consisting of an array of long vessels manufactured from seamless pipes, designed to operate at intermediate pressure levels. This work presents the concept and illustrates how the new solution maximizes storage efficiency in terms of estate required and cost and complexity of operation.

As demand for hydrogen grows, so does the need for available water. This panel discussion will address the water quality criteria for hydrogen production and the latest technologies being used to optimize this industry. This discussion will also highlight the challenges around water scarcity, and how water can be managed for scalable and sustainable hydrogen production.

The trend towards low-carbon hydrogen production, at large scale, is in full swing. Air Liquide’s Autothermal Reforming (ATR) and Cryocap™ carbon capture technologies are the most essential building bricks for hydrogen production at scale. Air Liquide will share insights on how customers can benefit from a unique integrated solution to reach the lowest carbon intensity hydrogen production.

Aramco’s efforts in establishing clean hydrogen industry will accelerate the decarbonization initiative toward 2050 ambition goal of net zero carbon emission for scope 1&2. Accordingly, the company is building one of the biggest carbon capture and sequestration projects, in order to be able to sequester millions of tons of CO2 annually by 2027. The presentation will give insights on the opportunities and value chain challenges related to Aramco’s clean ammonia export to Europe as one of the big potential markets. These ammonia will have a direct use in different sectors or crack it to hydrogen for use as fuel and in chemicals industry.

This presentation will discuss the latest advancements in AEL technology and it’s scaling up for large green hydrogen projects.

Hydrogen is one of the building blocks moving toward a climate neutral society, in which digital technologies play an increasingly important role. CGI, who is among the largest IT and business consulting services firms in the world, has deep domain knowledge and experience in digitalization in the energy and utilities domain. We will touch upon the parallels between existing and new energy markets, the challenges and the opportunities we see in creating an integrated hydrogen ecosystem. Join our presentation where we share how data driven technologies can help you in optimising an integrated and sustainable hydrogen economy.

We will discuss how digitalization can improve the reliability of hydrogen production facilities and facilitate the integration of hydrogen equipment in an end-usage context. Whether you are a hydrogen producer, a technology provider, or a policymaker interested in advancing the hydrogen economy, this presentation will provide valuable insights into the role of digital solutions in making hydrogen production cleaner, more efficient, and more sustainable.

This presentation will discuss PEMScale1.5, which is a DLR project involving nine DLR institutes from the areas of energy, transport and aviation in order to develop a concept of a generic, integrated fuel cell system with an output of 1.5 megawatts including electric drive. The goal of the PEMScale1.5 project is to identify specific requirements for the fuel cell systems and power trains of the individual applications. Moreover, a concept of a generic fuel cell system with a power of up to 1500 kW is proposed.

From factory to production, this presentation addresses the latest developments in production methods of Fuel Cells and Electrolysers and how to scale impact of design features on production methods.

This presentation will discuss the dynamics of the Electrolyser market and the important considerations to scale Electrolyser manufacturing on a global scale.

The presentation will report about the usage of hydrogen fuel cells for large stationary power plant. Andrea will review the status of the engineering activates at Intelligent Energy to deliver a 10 MW power plant based on hydrogen fuel cell that will be in operation in Korea in 2025.

The APC will present a comparison of installed powertrain costs for a hydrogen fuel cell system, NMC and LFP batteries used in large premium SUVs and vans. This analysis is novel because it links detailed future battery and fuel cell cost projections within a modular electrified platform concept, where OEMs can produce fuel cell and battery electric powertrains on the same vehicle production line.

This panel will address the pros and cons of both fuel cells and batteries, and how these can be complimentary rather than opposing technologies. The panel will also highlight how this might differ between different industries, with a particular focus being on the transport sector.

Fuel cells are a promising but challenging technology for achieving zero-emission heavy-duty commercial vehicles. AVL has developed a modular 156 kW fuel cell system and based on it an optimized fuel cell powertrain for a long-haul semitrailer tractor that meets the industry requirements of lifetime, driving performance, fuel consumption, driving range as well as the costs for acquisition and operation. Driven by climate change and corresponding new legislation emission-free transport becomes increasingly important. Especially, the long-haul truck is considered to be a key application, as this vehicle category contributes most to the emissions within the on-road transport sector. First battery-powered commercial vehicles (e.g., Mercedes eActros) and fuel cell-powered commercial vehicles (e.g., Hyundai Xcient) indicate the ongoing shift toward emission-free transportation on the market. We will elaborate on the methods and tools we used to optimize the Fuel Cell System, battery, e-Axle and all other relevant auxiliaries to develop a class leading solution for the 40ton truck.

Degradation is one of the remaining big challenges for the PEM fuel cell technology to become a main stream mass product at high quantities. The presentation explains why degradation is such a big challenge and lines out AVL's innovative, new and open fuel cell degradation R&D platform.

Nowadays, achieving a zero emission goal is paramount. To do so, hydrogen is becoming one of the key enablers and fuel cells the way to promote the adoption of sustainable mobility worldwide. However, to achieve mass diffusion, the manufacturing process must definitely scale up. In fact, this will reduce costs by up to 20% and increase uptake. To permit the realization of such volumes, automation is the answer. Not only, to be sure automation can release its full potential, the fuel cell design has to be manufacturing and automation-oriented. The goal of automation companies, especially the ones that have led the automotive scale up at the current incredible level of high-speed automation, is to guide fuel cell development to enable a comparable expansion.

Within the project "BReCycle", experts from Fraunhofer IWKS, Electrocycling, Mairec, Proton Motor and KLEIN Anlagenbau developed a sustainable process for the reprocessing of fuel cells, generating high-quality material fractions, in particular from the electrode coating and the polymer membrane. In this presentation, a verified recycling approach comprising of mechanical pre-treatment and chemical separation processes is introduced that ensures a high degree of recovery of the raw materials used and which is superior in terms of environmental compatibility and economic efficiency.

Increasing demand for green hydrogen needs a significant increase of water electrolysis capacity. Here, PEM electrolysis will cover a significant share of the planned GW installations to reach the ambitious H2 generation goals. However, all electrolysis technologies and particularly PEM electrolysis is dealing with critical raw materials, for the latter precious metals. On the other hand, precious metals also show highest efficiencies in activity and in recyclability which makes them not only a chance but a pivotal element of the hydrogen economy. Their application beyond water electrolysis shows especially in in fuel cells, gas purification and conversion into other compounds for transport, e.g. ammonia, a big opportunity. With material development and recycling strategies as well as the best fitting metal management tools, it can be avoided that those critical raw materials become a critical factor for the hydrogen economy.

Water management of fuel cells is essential for efficient usage and optimal performance. Simulation approaches for water transport analysis vary between simple and fast 1D models up to computational expensive 3D resolved transient models. Users have to decide between simplicity versus complexity in model set-up, quick versus time-consuming solutions, global versus detailed resolutions ending up in decisions between short development cycles, high investment costs and accurate modelling results. Our presentation will show an industrial useable approach with a good accuracy/time/cost ratio using an efficient VOF model which can be coupled with further sophisticated models for transport in gas-diffusion layers and membranes. We will show results of water transport in industrial fuel cell designs as well as possible optimization strategies using various model levels.

The European Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) is set to secure Europe's competitive edge and produce 40% of its own clean tech by 2030. The EU plans to produce 10Mtons of renewable hydrogen, requiring 100 GW of electrolyser capacity. This panel discussion aims to highlight how the CRMA will impact fuel cell and electrolyser producers throughout the value chain.

This presentation covers various PVD coating materials, including titanium, platinum, and diamond-like carbon, and their effects on the properties of fuel cell and electrolyzer components, such as corrosion resistance, electrical conductivity, and catalytic activity. We also discuss the challenges associated with PVD coating, such as cost and scalability, and potential solutions to overcome these obstacles.

The presentation explains the principle and the setup of the calibration system. By increasing the system pressure, higher mass flow rates can be achieved at the same volume flow. Thermal stability is mandatory for calibrations and measures needed to be taken for that. Pressure drop and fluctuations have been investigated and have been optimized. With the system it is now possible to perform high flow real gas (hydrogen) calibrations.

This presentation will be about the EKPO NM12 stack module and its performance characteristics. The level of integration of the BOP-components and how we ensure a high quality over lifetime with our design verification plan

Christian Vinther will give an insight into how Ballard received the world’s first DNV Type Approval, what a Type Approval process involves and ultimately what this means for the marine market. In addition, Christian will also present several vessel projects which in 2023 will embark on their maiden voyages powered by Ballard’s fuel cells -showcasing how zero-emission operation can be made possible here and now. This includes the presentation of the Norwegian MF Hydra ferry, which is the world’s first ferry to be powered by PEM fuel cells running on liquid hydrogen. In November 2022 Ballard installed two 200kW FCwaveTM fuel cell modules on board the ferry, and in March 2023 the project reached a huge milestone, when ferry owner Norled announced that the ferry was put into official operation.

It is imperative to develop breakthrough solutions to retrofit the existing fleets and allow maritime transport industry to meet the environmental challenges with investments that do not compromise their businesses nor waterborne transport industry. Therefore, the availability of cost-effective and easy-to-integrate PEM fuel cell systems type-approved for maritime applications and the use of green hydrogen as zero emission fuel will significantly contribute to the decarbonization of the shipping industry.

Ths session will highlight the role of cathode air filter and its influence on the performance and durability of the fuel cell.

Fuel Cells represent an integral part of the future energy sector, i.e. in heavy-duty mobility or stationary power generation. However, its production is characterized by complex processes, the utilization of sensitive materials and niche knowledge due to its novelty regarding the series production. One main process chain represents the production of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) where the electrochemical processes in the fuel cell take place. Hence, this component is primarily responsible for the overall fuel cell performance. By having a more profound insight into its production process it comes up, that improving material handling and product quality due the thin membrane, huge consumption of carrier material and high production cost remain major challenges in MEA production. As part of the project Fuel Cell Performance Production (FCPP), an innovative process concept is developed to address the above-mentioned challenges and propose a process solution for future fuel cell production systems. Within the concept, a re-coatable transfer belt is used as a continuous decal to enable a roll-to-roll coating of the membrane. In a following process step, the membrane is assembled with a subgasket and gas diffusion layer (GDL) to the MEA. To gain knowledge about relevant parts of the new concept, e.g. transfer belt coating and catalyst transfer to the membrane, first tests need to be conducted to understand relevant interdependencies of the materials, their handling and process parameters to enable a state-of-the-art MEA production. Thus, a holistic hands-on experience of the whole process chain of the MEA production is explained. Next to the applied materials, a prototypical manually MEA production line is described and integral process parameters as well as the impact of their deviation are shown. Finally, requirements to an automated and industrialized MEA production are derived.

Fuel cell stacks and bipolar plates are key components of any mobile or stationary fuel cell application. In addition to the safe operation of hydrogen-containing compounds, cost-effective processes with short cycle times are the main objectives when selecting leak testing methods for these components. Taking the requirements of mono plates, bipolar plates and complete stacks as examples, we present the selection process for the respective leak test method and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the individual procedures.

The German Fuel Cell Cooperation will present the key elements of their concept of an integrated bipolar plate production and the parameters that enable a robust, efficient and scalable production that the industry demands. In an emerging market, it’s not only about the equipment but also about the technologies being used, which the German Fuel Cell Cooperation addresses as well.

In the previous BOSAL publication A1609 from EFCF2020, the modelling and advanced characterization of the thin foil counterflow heat exchanger elements were discussed and how they function optimally as quantum manager to achieve a quasi-reversible functionality. These quantum managers are a necessity to reach in SOFC and SOEC high electrical efficiencies. In such a way, they are crucial building blocks to achieve the desired conditions of the flows towards the fuel cell stack. Temperature and gas composition must be provided in the required windows, so the stack can function and perform as desired. Composing the quantum managers together results in a Hot-Balance of Plant (H-BoP) system. BOSAL realized already since 2008 SOFC H-BoP systems. Specifications regarding space, heat transfer and quantum management in combination with pressure drop (backpressure as it is called), are essential parameters to consider by finding the desired trade-off between CAPEX and OPEX. BOSAL has configured over the last years for multiple customers a variety of SOFC and SOEC systems based on the specific approach and P&ID of the customer, resulting in optimal designs and optimization for each approach. By doing so, a learning curve was generated, resulting in lessons learned which are taken in the process development for serial production. Very often small details make at the end the difference. Thermal management is key. Such experiences are shared in the paper to prepare and help the SOFC or SOEC system developer better in the multiple choices he has to make to generate a P&ID including the lay-out, the number of components and their position, which are very often the key to success. Practice showed that the best compromises deliver much better results compared to the theoretical best choices. Reason is that in reality, materials reach with their properties their limits in these applications, not speaking about the cost complications that sometime pushes the application in the direction of very exotic and costly material selections. Examples are discussed. Nowadays, multiple customers work on fast heat-up within minutes instead of hours for SOFC and SOEC components. There is the experience in the BOSAL-group coming from automotive exhaust systems to minimize the design and concept loops to achieve a functional and endured concept. Finetuning in the virtual environment happens before going into high production volumes by using Thermal Mechanical Fatigue (TMF), validated with thermal cycling tests with burners and heaters to control risks when going into high production volume. On request of multiple customers, BOSAL is realizing the industrialization of several heat exchanger footprints production up to the fully integrated H-BoP systems up to TRL 8.

Hydrogen, generated with renewable energy, is the promising energy storage type of the future. The challenges in the hydrogen value chain, from hydrogen generation to storage and transportation as well as end use, are numerous and especially materials used for these purposes have to be adapted to tough conditions. Not only materials are very sensitive to hydrogen influences but also special requirements need to be fulfilled to reach a higher product efficiency and longer service life. ZwickRoell would like to give an overview of the relevant material testing solutions regarding to the hydrogen fuel cell/electrolyzer.