The Haeolus project will install a 2 MW electrolyser in the remote region of Varanger, Norway, inside the Raggovidda wind farm, whose growth is limited by grid bottlenecks. The electrolyser will be based on PEM technology and will be integrated with the wind farm, hydrogen storage and a smaller fuel cell for re-electrification. To maximise relevance to wind farms across the EU and the world, the plant will be operated in multiple emulated configurations (energy storage, mini-grid, fuel production). Like many large wind farms, especially offshore, Raggovidda is difficult to access, in particular in winter: Haeolus will therefore deploy a remote monitoring and control system allowing the system to operate without personnel on site. Maintenance requirements will be minimised by a specially developed diagnostic and prognostic system for the electrolyser and BoP systems. The containerised electrolyser is a standard model carried by project partner Hydrogenics. The integrated system will be housed in a specially erected hall to protect it from the Arctic winter and allow year-round access. The integrated system of electrolyser, fuel cells, and wind farm will be designed for flexibility in demonstration, to allow emulating different operating modes and grid services. Haeolus answers the AWP's challenge with the widest possible project scope, with operation modes not limited to the site's particular needs but extended to all major use cases, and several in-depth analyses (released as public reports) on the business case of electrolysers in wind farms, their impact on energy systems and the environment, and their applicability in a wide range of conditions.

The aim of the NEXTAEC is development of next generation alkaline electrolyzer with a performance comparable to a good PEM electrolyzer or better without the use of noble metals. In brief, the PEM electrolyzer can operate at high current densities (several amperes pr. cm2) due to the low internal resitstance of a thin acidic ion conducting membrane (an ion-exchange membrane). The main drawback is that the acidic system demands noble metal catalysts on both electrodes and expensive noble metal coatings on the bipolar plates and electrode backing. The alkaline electrolyzer, does not rely on noble metals for neither catalysts nor bipolar plates, but it suffers from higher internal resistance because it does not have a thin ion conducting membrane. Despite many years of research, no research groups or companies have been able to develop a satisfactory ion-exchange membrane for the alkaline system. All attempts suffer from sigificantly lower conductivity and poor stability. The alkaline electrolyzer have so far

The need for de-carbonization of our society is a pressing issue raising the attention at social and political levels. The production of high value chemicals and fuels such as methanol requires hydrogen derived at the moment from hydrocarbons and resulting in large emissions of CO2. Green Hydrogen produced by water electrolysis coupled to renewable sources could be the ultimate solution to this problem. Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) is the most suitable technology for this process due to its compactness and flexibility. However, the dependence on precious metal catalysts and expensive components manufactured in titanium poses a serious threat for the scale up and market penetration of this technology. PROMET-H2 project aims to develop a pressurized PEMWE with the lowest capital cost ever achieved (500-750 €/kW) without compromising performance and durability. The stack, based on hydraulic compression technology, will contain improved membranes and electrodes with reduced or even free o

DECODE aims at creating and demonstrating a decentralised and adaptable future lab concept that connects multiple labs on a single platform in order to boost the effectiveness and speed-up the development and innovation path for clean energy materials and technologies. Initially demonstrated for selected hydrogen technologies, the DECODE platform is expected to find wide adoption in the clean technology field in the longer run, including energy harvesting, conversion and storage; clean water technologies; and the synthesis of value-added chemicals and fuels. The core of the platform comprises three elements: the DECODE FABRIC that connects adaptative multi-scale modelling and characterisation suites in a matrix-like structure; a scoring concept to assess modelling and characterisation suites in terms of their integration readiness level (IRL); and an AI-enabled central unit (CPU) that processes the IRL scores, performs the technology mapping to the FABRIC and orchestrates contributions in modelling and characterisation from partner labs. For the platform as a whole, DECODE strives to achieve a high level of flexibility, adaptability, and interoperability, in terms of materials modification strategies, technologies and operating regimes that it will be able to handle. Water electrolysis and hydrogen fuel cell technologies are selected for the demonstration of DECODE’s decentralised labs platform. The project will join leading expertise and capabilities in physical theory and modelling, design, fabrication, operando characterisation and testing of functional materials and components, materials digitalisation and cloud-connected lab operations, and industrial-grade component integration and in-line/end-of-line testing and validation by industrial partners in the consortium.

The overall objective of the QualyGridS project is the establishing of standardized tests for electrolysers performing electrical grid services. Alkaline electrolysers as well as PEM electrolysers will be considered individually in performance analysis and in an assessment of business cases for these electrolysers’ use. A variety of different grid services will be addressed as well as multiple hydrogen end users. The protocols developed will be applied to alkaline and PEM electrolysers systems, respectively, using electrolyser sizes from 50 kW up to 300 kW. Additionally, a techno-economic analysis of business cases will be performed covering the grid and market situations in the most relevant regions of Europe. The consortium adressing these tasks includes three electrolyser manufacturers and well as research institutions with plenty of experience. Inclusion of a European standardisation institution will allow for maximum impact of the protocols. An advisory committee including TSOs from several countries a