The overall aim of the H2Heat project is to demonstrate the full value chain for green hydrogen (H2) heating for commercial building heating. 40% of total energy consumed and 36% of greenhouse gas emissions in EU correspond to buildings, with 79% of that energy used for heating of water and air conditioning. H2HEAT, in exciting alliance with the Canary Health Service (SCS), wish to create a full demonstration of Green H2 for heating (and later energy). This will serve as the replicable model to be rolled out across the SCS hospitals enabling the SCS fulfil its ambitious ‘Health Zer0 net Emissions Strategy’ delivering deep decarbonization. H2HEAT will use offshore wind renewable energy (RE) to produce H2, from Esteyco 6MW EU funded WHEEL project. The centralised onshore H2 facility, will produce H2 initially with a 1MW electrolyser, to be used to substitute conventional fuel by the large end-user hospital CHUIMI with substantial heating requirements (>0.5MW), using a novel combination of an advanced combustion technology burner specifically designed for H2 operation H2-CHP, and a heat pump. The H2-CHP will produce heat and energy and the energy will power the heat pump for substantial heat provision to the hospital with no waste. Full end-to-end infrastructure for H2 transport and use will be planned, installed and commissioned. Comprehensive and complementary mixture of expertise and know-how provided by the consortium partners will ensure an efficient realization of the technical objectives of the project, reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) of H2 fuel for consumers, and develop replicable business models for wide-scale commercial usage of H2 as a direct heating alternative across Gran Canaria. H2Heat will contribute to enabling Gran Canaria become part of the H2 valley economy through locally produced H2 from RE.

The Net Zero Industry Act reckons the production of low-carbon hydrogen (H2) to be a strategic industry. Water electrolysis using renewable energy sources (RES) is a promising way to produce low-carbon H2. To allow the large-scale deployment of electrolysis technologies, monitoring the status of health of the electrolyser to opt for optimal operating conditions for the extension of their lifetime under fluctuating RES, and thus the reduction of the cost of ownership, is still a challenge. The DELYCIOUS project will develop monitoring and diagnostic tools for electrolysers that are cost-efficient, innovative, open, universal, and safe, leveraging: - A unique combination of techniques to probe chemical and electrochemical properties (Raman and Electrochemical Impedance spectroscopies) and modelling approaches (physical and data-driven modelling) to access degradation parameters. - An interoperability prerogative thanks to validation of the functionality and resilience of DELYCIOUS on low and high temperature domains of technologies using three electrolysis technologies (AEL, PEMEL, SOEL). - A strong European consortium combining expertise in the development of hardware sensors (Horiba, SIVONIC) and algorithms (Air Liquide, UT), and their eventual integration into the Electrolyser Management System software platform (Dumarey). The hardware and algorithms will be validated on a laboratory scale during test campaigns of AEL (Stargate), SOEL (UT), and PEMEL (Air Liquide). Since AEL electrolysers will play a major role in large-scale low-carbon H2 production plants, we will provide a TRL6 demonstration of diagnostic and monitoring tools for AEL >100kW (Fraunhofer IWES). A techno-economic analysis is carried out to outline a commercialisation and exploitation roadmap, in line with the needs and expertise of our consortium and advisory board partners. It is expected that 5.9GW of water electrolysers capacity installed in EU by 2035 will be using our technology.

Today’s alkaline electrolysers are typically operating at voltages exceeding 2 V/cell, corresponding to electrolyser power consumption >54 kWh/kg. Improved performance is often achieved by incorporating platinum-group metals (PGM) in electrode coatings, but the wider adoption of such approach is severely hindered by the limited availability and high cost of PGM. Not only does electrode degradation negatively affect the efficiency of the electrolyser stack, but also the efficiency of the entire system. Degradation also negatively affects CAPEX: due to degradation, the amount of waste heat that needs to be removed from the stack increases, which means that electrolyser components need to be significantly oversized. If electrolyser degradation rate could be reduced, it would result in two-fold benefits: 1) lower operating expenditures via lower energy consumption over electrolyser lifetime, 2) lower capital expenditures via lower level of oversizing of balance-of-plant components needed. Both would positively affect the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH). We aim to develop a PGM-free alkaline electrolyser stack with PEM-like performance and low degradation rate. Proposed innovations: • Development of 3D structured, laterally graded, flow-engineered, monolithic porous transport electrodes (PTE), drastically improving electrode kinetics and mass transport compared to state-of-the-art cells • Multi-level computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling coupled with advanced X-ray tomography • Novel PGM-free high performance electrocatalysts fabricated using inherently scalable methods • Stack-level improvements and performance validation using 100cm2 and 1000cm2 stack platforms, and benchmarking with state-of-the-art • Building upon the work done by the JRC, the development of harmonised test protocols and accelerated testing procedures for alkaline water electrolysers.

The main objective of the Sea4Volt project is the development of a novel low temperature Anion Exchange Membrane (AEM) electrolyser concept, able to operate efficiently, selectively, and durably with a direct seawater feed under a slight pH-gradient. Reaching this will require identifying and developing new suitable materials (catalysts, membrane, coatings, porous transport layers, bipolar plates, sealings), as well as novel electrolyser design options. The Sea4Volt will develop and demonstrate a direct seawater electrolyser prototype with novel materials/components and membrane/ionomers to reach effective high-performing and corrosion-resistant seawater electrolysis system. Results of in-operation tests will be published in public deliverables, workshops, and conferences, making it possible for the partners outside of Sea4Volt consortium to exploit leading to a wider impact throughout the European electrolyzer and fuel cell industry. The choice of the newly emerged AEM technology proposed in this project, on one hand, emphasises the extensive innovative technological impact exhibited in the implementation of novel non-CRM materials, PFAS-free anion exchange membranes and ionomers, new electrode designs and protective coatings. On the other hand, the intrinsic cost-effectiveness of the AEM technology, embedded in utilization of low-cost materials, is expected to provide further cost reductions to such an offshore electrolyser system, and will result to anticipated lower cost of green hydrogen production. The technology enabling the generation of green hydrogen directly from seawater holds immense societal-wide impacts. Shift towards green hydrogen production could also stimulate economic growth through the creation of new industries and job opportunities, particularly in regions with abundant seawater resources. Sea4Volt is also being targeted in the areas characterised with deficit of fresh water especially in underdeveloped regions around the globe.

Today’s alkaline electrolysers favour current densities over efficiency: to achieve commercially relevant current densities, these systems typically operate at voltages exceeding 2 V/cell, corresponding to electrolyser power consumption of >54 kWh/kg. There are four reasons for employing high voltages: 1) electrodes’ insufficient electrochemical activity, 2) the relatively high gas permeability of commonly employed diaphragms means that improved hydrogen purity can be achieved at high current operation points, 3) the stack designs are not optimised for low-current operation due to very simple flow fields, and 4) high currents are required to achieve attractive electrolyser CAPEX costs (EUR/kW). Yet, there is a growing consensus that the wider adoption of green H2 is not hindered by electrolyser CAPEX: the costs of green H2 are in most cases vastly dominated by OPEX, which in turn is a direct function of electrolyser efficiency. Thus, to achieve lowest possible levelised cost of H2, efficiency should be prioritised over current density. EXSOTHyC will optimise electrolyser operation towards lower voltages and higher efficiencies. The innovation is three-fold and addressing all four above-mentioned reasons: • Alternative pathways to the O2 and H2 evolution reactions by new anode and cathode approaches • Novel concepts of membrane electrode assemblies with integrated components • Novel cell design to enhance overall cell efficiency by integrating disruptive concepts In the project, we adopt an approach combining computer simulations, rapid prototyping, and thorough experimental validation on single cell, SRU and short stack level. In a nutshell, we will combine electrodes made using powder metallurgy with ceramic nanoparticles fabricated by exsolution, leveraging on the synergy that both methods require reducing atmospheres. Also, membrane-electrode assemblies based on Zirfon will be developed. The cell/stack will be backed by computer modelling.