Why this startup?
Hydrogen is increasingly seen as a central component of a decarbonized world given its potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions across transportation, power generation, and industrial processes. Many experts expect that “green” hydrogen in particular — produced in electrolyzers powered by renewable energy — will play a large role in this growing hydrogen economy.
However, the major technologies for producing green hydrogen today are insufficient. Alkaline electrolyzers are incapable of ramping up and down quickly, making them fundamentally unsuited for weather-dependent renewables such as wind or solar. In contrast, Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyzers can dynamically adjust to variable electricity supply, but they require iridium, a critical mineral whose scarce supply will constrain the scalability of PEM in coming decades (source).
There is a growing need for a method for producing green hydrogen that can be powered by intermittent renewable energy while only using earth-abundant elements.
The addressable market for green electrolyzers is vast, with global hydrogen demand already exceeding 100 million tons per year and projected to grow to as much as 600 million tons per year by 2050. As such, the electrolyzer market already exceeds 5B by 2030.
Developing green hydrogen electrolyzers that are earth-abundant and can be powered by renewable energy
This company will a new class of industrial-scale electrolyzers to produce green hydrogen. These electrolyzer systems can be powered by intermittent renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, because they have the ability to dynamically ramp up and down. Meanwhile, they do not rely on critical minerals like iridium, which means that there is no material limit to their global growth.
This company, with its differentiated technology, is well-positioned to capitalize on the expanding market for green hydrogen electrolyzers, driving the transition towards a low-carbon economy.
Differentiated technology
The core technology behind this startup concept is based on groundbreaking research by the Surendranath Group at MIT. This group has developed a new electrochemical cell design that leverages intermediate-temperature steam electrolysis, combining the advantages of PEM and alkaline approaches to provide on-demand green hydrogen to meet rapidly growing demand in critical tough-to-decarbonize sectors.
In this molten hydroxide electrolyzer approach, water is introduced to the system as steam. Since only gaseous inputs and products are being circulated, the reverse current issues during system turndown in aqueous alkaline electrolyzers can be eliminated, which makes dynamic operation possible — unlike conventional alkaline electrolyzers.
This technology leverages a novel cell configuration that minimizes ohmic losses and improves mass transport, ultimately improving the efficiency and economics of hydrogen production.
Techno-economic optimization results indicate that this technology is cost-competitive with PEM under future grid scenarios with dynamic operation, reaching a levelized cost of hydrogen around $3/kg by 2030.
A beachhead market in iron mines
This technology will be especially competitive for customers who need to use green hydrogen to decarbonize other important chemical/industrial processes, such as metal production, chemical manufacturing, and ammonia synthesis. These coupled industrial processes often generate waste heat and/or waste steam, allowing for further energy savings and system integration. Additionally, these on-site hydrogen production applications obviate the need for H2 storage and transport, further reducing life-cycle emissions and capital costs.
We see a promising beachhead market in iron mines. These mining customers, who produce iron ore, can significantly increase revenues by converting this ore into sponge iron directly at the mining site using the Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) process. This company’s electrolyzers would produce the green hydrogen to be used as a reducing agent in the DRI iron production. Shipping sponge iron instead of iron ore would also greatly reduce freight charges for iron mine customers.
Current Status and Next Steps
Technology readiness level: 3 - Initial lab-scale setup build and characterized
IP: Invention disclosure in preparation
People: Yogesh (Yogi) Surendranath and group
Further de-risking:
- Preventing leakage of the molten hydroxide from the stack over time, to avoid corrosion of cell components and increased resistance and gas crossover
- Preventing electrode corrosion (especially anode corrosion) over long duration operation
- Balancing ohmic resistance and gas crossover with optimal electrolyte layer design
- Performance: reducing the ohmic resistance of the cell to 0.1 Ω and running the cell at 2 A/cm2