- Email: [email protected]
US DOE funding fuel cell, hydrogen projects
NEWS nearby Aalborg University, to strengthen its R&D activities [June 2019, p14]. Blue World’s methanol fuel cell system is applicable to a variety of industries, although the initial focus is on transportation. Methanol is CO2-neutral when produced from renewable sources, and as a liquid fuel it can easily be stored and transported using the existing infrastructure, with only minor adjustments and low investment costs. Earlier this year, Danish Power Systems celebrated its 25th anniversary working on the development and manufacturing of MEA components based on HT-PEM technology. In addition to its MEA production expertise, DPS has a skilled R&D team that is working in close collaboration with experts from some of the world’s leading universities and research institutes to optimise the technology and reduce costs. The company recently signed a cooperation agreement with Chemistry Consulting, to provide enhanced chemical consulting services for Danish industry [June 2019, p12]. Blue World Technologies: www.blue.world Danish Power Systems: www.daposy.com
Nel agrees location for large-scale electrolyser manufacturing facility
N
orwegian-based Nel ASA has secured a new location for its planned expansion of manufacturing capacity for alkaline electrolysers, in Herøya Industrial Park, about 110 km (70 miles) southwest of the capital Oslo. The new, 15 000 m2 (160 000 ft2) location provides a number of benefits, including the potential to further expand production capacity in the future. The initial target production capacity at Herøya will be 360 MW per annum, but the current, planned setup anticipates the new premises achieving a capacity of more than 1 GW per annum. Nel is also examining opportunities to implement an even more advanced production line and manufacturing process, which will have the potential to increase capacity significantly beyond 1 GW per annum. The other functions related to alkaline electrolyser operations will continue from the company’s site in Notodden, 55 km (33 miles) northwest of Herøya. ‘We have been working closely with partners and stakeholders during 2019 with the expansion plans, and have finally concluded that the location of the new manufacturing plant will be Herøya, a world-leading industrial complex with state-of-the-art infrastructure already in place at
September 2019
competitive prices,’ says Jon André Løkke, CEO of Nel [see also pages 8 and 9, and the In Brief item on page 15]. ‘Herøya brings proximity to important partners, holds decades of industrial heritage, and is an attractive industrial hub for current and future colleagues. The available facility at Herøya also provides significant opportunities for scaling up the production.’ Nel Hydrogen – Electrolysers: www.nelhydrogen.com
and architecture, developed by De Nora for exclusive use in AFC Energy’s fuel cell, and positions AFC’s product offering to be one of the lowest-cost fuel cells in the market [see the AFC feature in December 2015]. Since the 12-month test began De Nora and AFC Energy have continued to further enhance electrode performance, for additional improvements in electrode degradation, efficiency, and cost.
Herøya Industrial Park: https://eng.heroya-industripark.no
AFC Energy: www.afcenergy.com Industrie De Nora SpA: www.denora.com
AFC, De Nora boost joint development deal CARB annual report after electrode success on rollout of FCEVs, stations in California
U
K-based AFC Energy has strengthened its commercial relationship with Industrie De Nora SpA in Italy, with the signing of the next phase of their Joint Development Agreement, setting updated targets for mass production in advance of commercial deployment. The extended partnership follows the milestone of 12 months’ continuous operation of AFC’s alkaline fuel cell electrode, developed in partnership with De Nora, well on the way to achieving the targeted electrode longevity. Since signing the original JDA three years ago [FCB, August 2016, p1], De Nora and AFC Energy have collaborated to improve the performance of fuel cell electrodes against initially defined operating criteria. The newly announced JDA extension will build on these successes, focusing on further opportunities for enhancing electrode performance and creating the right commercial environment for mass electrode manufacturing. De Nora has commenced work on scalingup the electrode chemistry at its German manufacturing facility, to ensure consistency, replicability, and quality assurance in advance of large-scale electrode orders. The company has confirmed it has the ability to supply requested electrode delivery for the initial placement and commercialisation of AFC Energy’s fuel cell system, including the CH2ARGE™ battery electric vehicle (EV) charger demonstration, expected to be delivered in Q4 of 2019 [July 2019, p11]. To assess electrode longevity, AFC Energy initiated a long-term continuous operations test in August 2018. After 12 months, based on linear regression analysis from the test programme, there have been no significant adverse trends which would indicate that the four-year lifetime target will not be met. The milestone performance demonstrates the potential of the new coating formulation
T
he California Air Resources Board has published its 2019 Annual Evaluation of Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Deployment & Hydrogen Fuel Station Network Development, which reports that over the past year the state’s hydrogen stations and FCEV markets have grown in line with projections in the 2018 Annual Evaluation. The period between June 2018 and June 2019 saw the completion of six additional hydrogen stations [FCB, December 2018, p15, February 2019, p9, and June 2019, p15], and the deployment of more than 1500 FCEVs [April 2019, p5]. These positive developments demonstrate the continuing success of the Assembly Bill 8 (AB 8) programme’s funding efforts to date. The next year will be a further demonstration of this success, with as many as 11 additional stations completing construction and opening for retail customer service by the end of 2019. All remaining stations are still projected to be completed by the end of 2020, in line with previous expectations. CARB and the California Energy Commission continue to develop analysis methods that highlight a path to hydrogen fueling network self-sufficiency, with commensurate growth in FCEV deployment. CARB report (57MB PDF): https://tinyurl.com/carb-hrs-fcev-2019
RESEARCH
US DOE funding fuel cell, hydrogen projects
T
he US Department of Energy has recently announced funding for a number of fuel cell and hydrogen R&D projects through several initiatives,
Fuel Cells Bulletin
13
NEWS including support under Phase II of its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programme and through its Office of Technology Transitions’ Technology Commercialization Fund [see also the DOE item below]. DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is making two-year SBIR Phase II Release 2 grants for small businesses to demonstrate commercial feasibility for innovations in follow-on research. EERE’s Fuel Cell Technologies Office has selected three projects under its Fuel Cells Topic: • TDA Research (www.tda.com) is awarded $1 million to develop highly efficient ‘smart’ hydrogen storage tanks that reduce the operating costs of fuel cell electric vehicles. • Luna Innovations (www.lunainc.com) will receive $1.05 million to work on detection of micron-scale flaws through nonlinear wave mixing, developing a non-contact, robust, non-destructive evaluation system for scanning the inner walls of high-pressure hydrogen storage steel vessels to ensure structural reliability and safety. • General Engineering & Research LLC (www. geandr.com) is awarded $1.15 million to work on low-cost alloys for a high-efficiency, small-scale magnetocaloric refrigeration system for economical hydrogen liquefaction that eliminates boil-off losses. In addition, DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions is matching funding for four projects through its Technology Commercialization Fund, strengthening partnerships between DOE’s national laboratories and private sector companies to bring these technologies to market. The Fuel Cell Technologies Office has selected four projects: • Los Alamos National Laboratory (www.lanl. gov) and Skyre (www.skyre-inc.com) will develop a hydrogen contaminant detector ($150 000). • The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (www.nrel.gov) and ALD NanoSolutions (www.aldnanosolutions.com) are working on atomic layer deposition scale-up of extended thin-film electrocatalyst structures ($100 000). • Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (www.pnnl.gov) and General Engineering & Research (www.geandr.com) will focus on development of low-cost magnetocaloric materials ($150 000). • Sandia National Laboratories (www.sandia.gov) and the DLR German Aerospace Center (www. dlr.de) will advance a particle receiver design for commercialisation of solar thermochemical fuels and ammonia production ($150 000). EERE is also funding several commercial truck, off-road vehicle, and gaseous fuels research projects: 14
Fuel Cells Bulletin
• Northwestern University is awarded $1 million for theory-guided design and discovery of materials for reversible methane and hydrogen storage; and the University of South Florida will receive $800 000 to develop metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) containing frustrated Lewis pairs for hydrogen storage at ambient temperature. • Air Products (www.airproducts.com) is awarded $1.674 million to develop an ultracryopump for high-demand transportation fueling; NEL Hydrogen Inc (www. nelhydrogen.com) will receive $2 million to develop a high-speed, dynamic diaphragm compressor for high-capacity fueling (in collaboration with Nikola Motor Company); and Electricore (www.electricore.org) is awarded $3 million to work on a highpressure, high-flow-rate dispenser and nozzle assembly for heavy-duty vehicles. • General Motors is awarded $2 million to work on a durable fuel cell MEA through immobilisation of catalyst particle and membrane chemical stabiliser; Nikola Motor Company (www.nikolamotor.com) [see next item] will receive $1.7 million to develop durable MEAs for heavy-duty fuel cell electric trucks; and Carnegie Mellon University is awarded $2 million to create durable, high power density fuel cell cathodes for heavy-duty vehicles. DOE Fuel Cell Technologies Office: http://tinyurl.com/doe-fcto
Nikola wins $1.7m DOE award to develop advanced MEAs
T
he US Department of Energy has awarded Nikola Motor Company a $1.7 million grant to advance its research into fuel cell membraneelectrode assemblies (MEAs), as it works towards durable hydrogen fuel cell technology for commercial trucking. Phoenix, Arizona-based Nikola is partnering with Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania, Northeastern University in Massachusetts, and Georgia Institute of Technology on this key fuel cell technology research within the DOE Fuel Cell Consortium for Performance and Durability (FC-PAD) [FCB, November 2015, p10]. The joint grant was funded by DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Transportation Office under the recently announced Fiscal Year 2019 Commercial Trucks and Off-Road Applications funding opportunity announcement [see above item]. The company is pursuing a new approach and unique MEA architecture to satisfy the high power output and durability requirements
of heavy-duty applications with its academic partners: Professor Shawn Litster at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, Professor Sanjeev Mukerjee at Northeastern in Boston, and Professor Younan Xia at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Nikola will bring together advanced concepts in catalysts, ionomers, protonexchange membranes, and gas diffusion layers within a robust MEA by using appropriate, scalable fabrication methods. Nikola currently has more than 14 000 Class 8 fuel cell heavy trucks on order, and the company recently announced a battery-electric vehicle option for the urban, short-haul trucking market. The trucks will be manufactured in Coolidge, Arizona [April 2019, p14]; testing will begin on Arizona roads this year, with full production expected in late 2022. Nikola’s hydrogen station partner, Nel Hydrogen in Norway, was also selected for a $2 million award from DOE [see the DOE item above], with Nikola executives also serving as the technical lead on that project. Nikola Motor Company: www.nikolamotor.com FC-PAD, Fuel Cell Consortium for Performance and Durability: www.fcpad.org
US DOE awards $40m for funding 29 projects to advance H2@Scale
T
he US Department of Energy has announced $40 million in Fiscal Year 2019 funding for 29 projects to advance the H2@Scale concept, which is focused on enabling affordable and reliable large-scale hydrogen generation, transport, storage, and utilisation across multiple sectors. The funding is provided through DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), with a contribution from its Office of Nuclear Energy. The selected projects will advance hydrogen storage and infrastructure technologies, and identify innovative concepts for hydrogen production and utilisation, including grid resiliency [see also the DOE item above].
Topic 1A: Novel Hydrogen Carrier Development: • Colorado School of Mines: zeolitic imidazolate frameworks. • University of Hawaii: magnesium borane. • University of Southern California: reusable catalysts for hydrogen release. • Washington State University: ammonium formate and captured CO2. Topic 1B: H-Mat Materials Compatibility Consortium R&D [FCB, August 2019, p15]:
September 2019
Nel agrees location for large-scale electrolyser manufacturing facility
N
orwegian-based Nel ASA has secured a new location for its planned expansion of manufacturing capacity for alkaline electrolysers, in Herøya Industrial Park, about 110 km (70 miles) southwest of the capital Oslo. The new, 15 000 m2 (160 000 ft2) location provides a number of benefits, including the potential to further expand production capacity in the future. The initial target production capacity at Herøya will be 360 MW per annum, but the current, planned setup anticipates the new premises achieving a capacity of more than 1 GW per annum. Nel is also examining opportunities to implement an even more advanced production line and manufacturing process, which will have the potential to increase capacity significantly beyond 1 GW per annum. The other functions related to alkaline electrolyser operations will continue from the company’s site in Notodden, 55 km (33 miles) northwest of Herøya. ‘We have been working closely with partners and stakeholders during 2019 with the expansion plans, and have finally concluded that the location of the new manufacturing plant will be Herøya, a world-leading industrial complex with state-of-the-art infrastructure already in place at
September 2019
competitive prices,’ says Jon André Løkke, CEO of Nel [see also pages 8 and 9, and the In Brief item on page 15]. ‘Herøya brings proximity to important partners, holds decades of industrial heritage, and is an attractive industrial hub for current and future colleagues. The available facility at Herøya also provides significant opportunities for scaling up the production.’ Nel Hydrogen – Electrolysers: www.nelhydrogen.com
and architecture, developed by De Nora for exclusive use in AFC Energy’s fuel cell, and positions AFC’s product offering to be one of the lowest-cost fuel cells in the market [see the AFC feature in December 2015]. Since the 12-month test began De Nora and AFC Energy have continued to further enhance electrode performance, for additional improvements in electrode degradation, efficiency, and cost.
Herøya Industrial Park: https://eng.heroya-industripark.no
AFC Energy: www.afcenergy.com Industrie De Nora SpA: www.denora.com
AFC, De Nora boost joint development deal CARB annual report after electrode success on rollout of FCEVs, stations in California
U
K-based AFC Energy has strengthened its commercial relationship with Industrie De Nora SpA in Italy, with the signing of the next phase of their Joint Development Agreement, setting updated targets for mass production in advance of commercial deployment. The extended partnership follows the milestone of 12 months’ continuous operation of AFC’s alkaline fuel cell electrode, developed in partnership with De Nora, well on the way to achieving the targeted electrode longevity. Since signing the original JDA three years ago [FCB, August 2016, p1], De Nora and AFC Energy have collaborated to improve the performance of fuel cell electrodes against initially defined operating criteria. The newly announced JDA extension will build on these successes, focusing on further opportunities for enhancing electrode performance and creating the right commercial environment for mass electrode manufacturing. De Nora has commenced work on scalingup the electrode chemistry at its German manufacturing facility, to ensure consistency, replicability, and quality assurance in advance of large-scale electrode orders. The company has confirmed it has the ability to supply requested electrode delivery for the initial placement and commercialisation of AFC Energy’s fuel cell system, including the CH2ARGE™ battery electric vehicle (EV) charger demonstration, expected to be delivered in Q4 of 2019 [July 2019, p11]. To assess electrode longevity, AFC Energy initiated a long-term continuous operations test in August 2018. After 12 months, based on linear regression analysis from the test programme, there have been no significant adverse trends which would indicate that the four-year lifetime target will not be met. The milestone performance demonstrates the potential of the new coating formulation
T
he California Air Resources Board has published its 2019 Annual Evaluation of Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Deployment & Hydrogen Fuel Station Network Development, which reports that over the past year the state’s hydrogen stations and FCEV markets have grown in line with projections in the 2018 Annual Evaluation. The period between June 2018 and June 2019 saw the completion of six additional hydrogen stations [FCB, December 2018, p15, February 2019, p9, and June 2019, p15], and the deployment of more than 1500 FCEVs [April 2019, p5]. These positive developments demonstrate the continuing success of the Assembly Bill 8 (AB 8) programme’s funding efforts to date. The next year will be a further demonstration of this success, with as many as 11 additional stations completing construction and opening for retail customer service by the end of 2019. All remaining stations are still projected to be completed by the end of 2020, in line with previous expectations. CARB and the California Energy Commission continue to develop analysis methods that highlight a path to hydrogen fueling network self-sufficiency, with commensurate growth in FCEV deployment. CARB report (57MB PDF): https://tinyurl.com/carb-hrs-fcev-2019
RESEARCH
US DOE funding fuel cell, hydrogen projects
T
he US Department of Energy has recently announced funding for a number of fuel cell and hydrogen R&D projects through several initiatives,
Fuel Cells Bulletin
13
NEWS including support under Phase II of its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programme and through its Office of Technology Transitions’ Technology Commercialization Fund [see also the DOE item below]. DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is making two-year SBIR Phase II Release 2 grants for small businesses to demonstrate commercial feasibility for innovations in follow-on research. EERE’s Fuel Cell Technologies Office has selected three projects under its Fuel Cells Topic: • TDA Research (www.tda.com) is awarded $1 million to develop highly efficient ‘smart’ hydrogen storage tanks that reduce the operating costs of fuel cell electric vehicles. • Luna Innovations (www.lunainc.com) will receive $1.05 million to work on detection of micron-scale flaws through nonlinear wave mixing, developing a non-contact, robust, non-destructive evaluation system for scanning the inner walls of high-pressure hydrogen storage steel vessels to ensure structural reliability and safety. • General Engineering & Research LLC (www. geandr.com) is awarded $1.15 million to work on low-cost alloys for a high-efficiency, small-scale magnetocaloric refrigeration system for economical hydrogen liquefaction that eliminates boil-off losses. In addition, DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions is matching funding for four projects through its Technology Commercialization Fund, strengthening partnerships between DOE’s national laboratories and private sector companies to bring these technologies to market. The Fuel Cell Technologies Office has selected four projects: • Los Alamos National Laboratory (www.lanl. gov) and Skyre (www.skyre-inc.com) will develop a hydrogen contaminant detector ($150 000). • The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (www.nrel.gov) and ALD NanoSolutions (www.aldnanosolutions.com) are working on atomic layer deposition scale-up of extended thin-film electrocatalyst structures ($100 000). • Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (www.pnnl.gov) and General Engineering & Research (www.geandr.com) will focus on development of low-cost magnetocaloric materials ($150 000). • Sandia National Laboratories (www.sandia.gov) and the DLR German Aerospace Center (www. dlr.de) will advance a particle receiver design for commercialisation of solar thermochemical fuels and ammonia production ($150 000). EERE is also funding several commercial truck, off-road vehicle, and gaseous fuels research projects: 14
Fuel Cells Bulletin
• Northwestern University is awarded $1 million for theory-guided design and discovery of materials for reversible methane and hydrogen storage; and the University of South Florida will receive $800 000 to develop metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) containing frustrated Lewis pairs for hydrogen storage at ambient temperature. • Air Products (www.airproducts.com) is awarded $1.674 million to develop an ultracryopump for high-demand transportation fueling; NEL Hydrogen Inc (www. nelhydrogen.com) will receive $2 million to develop a high-speed, dynamic diaphragm compressor for high-capacity fueling (in collaboration with Nikola Motor Company); and Electricore (www.electricore.org) is awarded $3 million to work on a highpressure, high-flow-rate dispenser and nozzle assembly for heavy-duty vehicles. • General Motors is awarded $2 million to work on a durable fuel cell MEA through immobilisation of catalyst particle and membrane chemical stabiliser; Nikola Motor Company (www.nikolamotor.com) [see next item] will receive $1.7 million to develop durable MEAs for heavy-duty fuel cell electric trucks; and Carnegie Mellon University is awarded $2 million to create durable, high power density fuel cell cathodes for heavy-duty vehicles. DOE Fuel Cell Technologies Office: http://tinyurl.com/doe-fcto
Nikola wins $1.7m DOE award to develop advanced MEAs
T
he US Department of Energy has awarded Nikola Motor Company a $1.7 million grant to advance its research into fuel cell membraneelectrode assemblies (MEAs), as it works towards durable hydrogen fuel cell technology for commercial trucking. Phoenix, Arizona-based Nikola is partnering with Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania, Northeastern University in Massachusetts, and Georgia Institute of Technology on this key fuel cell technology research within the DOE Fuel Cell Consortium for Performance and Durability (FC-PAD) [FCB, November 2015, p10]. The joint grant was funded by DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Transportation Office under the recently announced Fiscal Year 2019 Commercial Trucks and Off-Road Applications funding opportunity announcement [see above item]. The company is pursuing a new approach and unique MEA architecture to satisfy the high power output and durability requirements
of heavy-duty applications with its academic partners: Professor Shawn Litster at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, Professor Sanjeev Mukerjee at Northeastern in Boston, and Professor Younan Xia at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Nikola will bring together advanced concepts in catalysts, ionomers, protonexchange membranes, and gas diffusion layers within a robust MEA by using appropriate, scalable fabrication methods. Nikola currently has more than 14 000 Class 8 fuel cell heavy trucks on order, and the company recently announced a battery-electric vehicle option for the urban, short-haul trucking market. The trucks will be manufactured in Coolidge, Arizona [April 2019, p14]; testing will begin on Arizona roads this year, with full production expected in late 2022. Nikola’s hydrogen station partner, Nel Hydrogen in Norway, was also selected for a $2 million award from DOE [see the DOE item above], with Nikola executives also serving as the technical lead on that project. Nikola Motor Company: www.nikolamotor.com FC-PAD, Fuel Cell Consortium for Performance and Durability: www.fcpad.org
US DOE awards $40m for funding 29 projects to advance H2@Scale
T
he US Department of Energy has announced $40 million in Fiscal Year 2019 funding for 29 projects to advance the H2@Scale concept, which is focused on enabling affordable and reliable large-scale hydrogen generation, transport, storage, and utilisation across multiple sectors. The funding is provided through DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), with a contribution from its Office of Nuclear Energy. The selected projects will advance hydrogen storage and infrastructure technologies, and identify innovative concepts for hydrogen production and utilisation, including grid resiliency [see also the DOE item above].
Topic 1A: Novel Hydrogen Carrier Development: • Colorado School of Mines: zeolitic imidazolate frameworks. • University of Hawaii: magnesium borane. • University of Southern California: reusable catalysts for hydrogen release. • Washington State University: ammonium formate and captured CO2. Topic 1B: H-Mat Materials Compatibility Consortium R&D [FCB, August 2019, p15]:
September 2019