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'World's biggest hydrogen electrolyser factory will be a quarter the
cost
and size of a comparable PEM or alkaline plant'
2 March, 2023
By Leigh
Collins
EXCLUSIVE | 'World's biggest hydrogen
electrolyser factory will be a quarter the cost and size of a
comparable PEM or alkaline plant'
US start-up planning 3.75GW facility will produce electrolysers that
are cheaper to buy and operate than any other machine in the market,
company tells Hydrogen Insight.
A US start-up that says it will begin work this year on the “world’s
largest electrolyser gigafactory” — a 3.75GW facility in Massachusetts —
tells Hydrogen Insight that it will be a quarter the cost and size of a
comparable PEM or alkaline electrolyser plant.
California-based EvolOH’s anion-exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyser has
been designed with low-cost mass production in mind, with no precious
metals, enabling it to be cheaper to buy and run than other machines on
the market, the company said when announcing the project late on Tuesday.
The “world’s largest gigafactory” — to use EvolOH’s words — will open in
2025 with all the equipment needed to produce 3.75GW of electrolysers per
year on day one, chief commercial officer Art Shirley tells Hydrogen
Insight.
This is because the 3.75GW of output will consist of a single
production line, with the factory later adding three identical production
lines, raising the total annual capacity to 15GW after 2026.
Norwegian electrolyser maker Nel plans to build a 4GW electrolyser
gigafactory in the US, which might well be completed before EvolOH’s
facility. The world's largest electrolyser factory is currently Bloom
Energy’s 2GW facility in Delaware.
“Because of the high-speed, roll-to-roll processes we use, we
estimate the plant will be about one quarter the size and cost of a
comparable PEM [proton exchange membrane/polymer electrolyte membrane] or
alkaline plant,” Shirley explains, referring to the two most common forms
of electrolyser.
“That’s why we, as a start-up, can build such a large manufacturing
capacity; it's actually quite small compared to the other guys.”
CEO Jimmy Rojas tells Hydrogen Insight: “Our stacks [the part of the
electrolyser that splits water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen] were
redesigned from scratch. We do things very differently in order to
optimise for long-term success: domestic supply chains, fully scaleable
platform, etc. All of this also allowed us to redesign the factory.
“I visited a couple electrolyser factories, and I couldn't believe
the archaic processes they had in place. They have to pay hundreds of
millions for an old-school factory that makes maybe 1GW or 2GW a year. You
can't change the world like that... We're finally bringing low-cost,
advanced, and mature manufacturing processes to water electrolysis.”
Shirley explains that the EvolOH stacks “will come on the market in
2025 at a price point well below $300/kW. Compare that to PEM at
$700-1,000/kW, or alkaline at more than $300/kW, and you can see the capex
[capital expenditure] benefits”.
“For opex [operating expenditure], ours operates like a PEM but at
a higher efficiency, and without caustic circulation like alkaline [electrolysers].”
EvolOH (pronounced ee-V’OH-low) says it has a short list of properties
near the city of Lowell, Massachusetts — the so-called cradle of the
American Industrial Revolution — and is negotiating to close on a site
this summer, when its Series A funding round is also due to close.
Rojas declined to say how much money the company needs to raise,
but said that such information would be revealed in the coming months.
“We, of course, plan to avail ourselves of any federal, state and local
incentives, but those are not necessary to make this happen,” Shirley
tells Hydrogen Insight, explaining that the company has been privately
funded to date with venture-capital backing.
So how is the start-up’s electrolyser different to other machines
on the market?
“EvolOH's anion exchange membrane technology works similar to PEM,
except the hydroxyl ions are transported across the membrane from the dry
cathode to the wet anode [rather than the opposite direction in PEM
machines],” says Shirley.
“The electrodes have a conventional composition and use only nickel/iron
catalysts. No electrolyte is required; instead, the process water has a
moderate conductivity and mildly neutralized pH, comparable to PEM.
Because of the mild alkaline conditions, no PGMs [platinum group metals]
or titanium are required, and no iridium oxides on the anode [unlike PEM
electrolysers]. Because it's dry, we can pressurise the cathode to at
least 30 bar [to increase H2 production per kWh of electricity].”
The company name, EvolOH, is a contraction of “evolution of oxygen
and hydrogen”, Shirley says.
“Our name expresses our aspiration: to use earth-abundant materials
to enable Power-to-X projects at a scale previously not possible.”
If the company name is not familiar, that might be because EvolOh
has not sought publicity until now. “We haven’t been hiding, just doing
what we set out to do without the hype of some players,” he explains.
The start-up was founded in 2020 by its CEO, Jimmy Rojas, is a
former climate-tech venture capitalist who has a PhD in hydrogen
production and energy systems from Stanford University. Chief operating
officer Scott Blanchet, who has helped develop the company’s AEM
electrolyser, was formerly chief technology officer at Nuvera Fuel Cells,
and has been awarded more than 260 patents, according to the EvolOH
website.
Green Play Ammonia™, Yielder® NFuel Energy.
Spokane, Washington. 99212
www.exactrix.com
509 995 1879 cell, Pacific.
Nathan1@greenplayammonia.com
exactrix@exactrix.com
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