Hydrogen and fuel cells development (June 2021)

New hydrogen projects continue to be announced in large numbers, stimulated by various “zero-carbon” initiatives, government funding and incentives, and green capitalism lobbying. As of early 2021, over 30 countries have released hydrogen roadmaps and more than 200 large-scale projects have been announced along the value chain—according to the Hydrogen Council, a global group of energy, transport, and industrial companies working to stimulate hydrogen investment. If the announced projects are realized, total investments in hydrogen would exceed $300 billion through 2030.

This is a selection of recent H₂ announcements:

• A Japanese-Australian consortium set off the production of hydrogen from brown coal in the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) pilot project in Australia. The HESC Pilot is developing a complete hydrogen supply chain, creating hydrogen gas via the gasification of Latrobe Valley coal, transport to the Port of Hastings for liquefaction, and shipment to Japan. The operations are about to start at both Victorian sites. The 500 million Australian dollars (USD $388 million) project is being delivered by a consortium of industry partners including Kawasaki Heavy Industries, J-POWER, Iwatani Corporation, Marubeni Corporation, AGL, and Sumitomo Corporation, and is supported by the Victorian, Australian and Japanese governments. The pilot project wants to demonstrate liquefied hydrogen can be produced commercially and exported safely overseas. This is the world’s first international integrated hydrogen supply chain.
• BP said it is developing plans for what would be the largest hydrogen project in the UK, aiming to produce 1 GW of hydrogen by 2030. The H2Teesside project would produce H₂ from natural gas, while capturing up to 98% of carbon emissions from the hydrogen production process.
• Korea-based SK Group will invest about 18 trillion won (US$16.4 billion) over the next five years to create a domestic hydrogen ecosystem—production, distribution, and consumption—through creation of domestic hydrogen infrastructure and also through partnerships with global companies.
• Haldor Topsoe will invest in a manufacturing facility producing highly efficient solid oxide electrolyzers (SOEC) with a total capacity of 500 MW per year with the option to expand to 5 GW per year. With efficiencies above 90%, Topsoe’s SOEC electrolyzers offer superior performance in electrolysis of water into hydrogen—e.g., 30% greater output—when compared to standard alkaline or PEM electrolyzers. The superior efficiency stems from the fact that the SOEC works at temperatures above 700°C, which sets it apart from standard electrolysis technologies. The facility is expected to be operational by 2023.
• Daimler Truck and the Volvo Group completed the transaction to form the previously announced fuel-cell joint venture. The Volvo Group has acquired 50% of the partnership interests in the existing Daimler Truck Fuel Cell GmbH for approximately SEK 6.3 billion (EUR 0.6 billion) on a cash and debt-free basis.
• Ballard Power Systems and Canadian Pacific announced that CP will employ Ballard fuel cell modules for CP’s Hydrogen Locomotive Program. The modules will provide a total of 1.2 MW of electricity to power the locomotive. Through the program, CP will develop North America’s first hydrogen-powered line-haul freight locomotive by retrofitting a formerly diesel-powered locomotive with hydrogen fuel cells. The fuel cells will work with battery technology to power the locomotive’s electric traction motors. Once operational, CP will conduct rail service trials and qualification testing to evaluate the technology’s readiness for the freight-rail sector. Ballard plans to deliver six of its 200-kW fuel cell modules to CP in 2021.
• Ballard Power Systems announced that it has received follow-on purchase orders from Wrightbus for a total of 50 fuel cell modules to power Fuel Cell Electric Buses (FCEB). The buses are to be deployed in a number of UK cities including Birmingham, Aberdeen, London and Belfast. The buses will be partially funded under the JIVE (Joint Initiative For Hydrogen Vehicles Across Europe) program. These follow-on orders are incremental to the previous orders for 50 modules that were shipped in 2020. The JIVE program provides partial funding for a total of 295 Fuel Cell Electric Buses, of which 120 are currently operating in the UK, Germany, France, Latvia, and The Netherlands. Ballard is supplying fuel cell modules for more than 85% of the FCEBs deployed and ordered to date under the JIVE program.
• Doosan FuelCell has signed an MOU with Korea Offshore & Shipbuilding, a shipbuilding holding company of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, to jointly develop solid oxide fuel cells for ships. Doosan will design and produce the SOFCs, and KSOE will focus on the integration of the fuel cells in ships. In October, Doosan Fuel Cell signed a MOU with shipper Navig8 to mount a SOFC in a 50,000-ton petrochemical product carrier.
• Yanmar Holdings and its subsidiary Yanmar Power Technology have conducted a field demonstration test for a maritime fuel cell system in Oita, Japan. The maritime fuel cell system developed by Yanmar incorporates hydrogen fuel cell modules from Toyota’s MIRAI automobile. The system was installed into Yanmar’s EX38A FC pleasure boat for field testing.
• Metrolinx transport agency has rejected hydrogen traction as a possible option for use as part of Toronto’s Go Transit commuter rail expansion plan, having concluded that the technology would not meet its immediate needs. A 2018 feasibility study found that the complexity of integrating the fuel cell system into the rail vehicle platform risked delays to the design and construction of a fleet of hydrogen trains for the proposed high-density regional express rail services; the system would require around 1% of the electricity generated daily in the province of Ontario and would therefore be vulnerable to fluctuations in energy prices; and hydrogen technology has not yet been implemented in an equivalent rail environment on the scale of the GO Transit network, and raised questions regarding fuel production, storage, transport and refueling.