Specific Challenge:
High temperature electrolysers (HTE) can potentially replace fossil energy input with renewable electricity for the generation of hydrogen, for example in refineries and chemical industry, whereby available waste heat from the plant improves the efficiency of the electrolysis process.
This topic is aimed at a step change improvement in high temperature electrolyser technology to enable future commercial introduction.
This improvement can be on the level of the cell, stack or system layout. To develop a wider market, medium term targets for this technology are in relationship with step change and improvement in performances of the technology, trying to overcome some of the actual limiting factors and / or introducing novelties in the cell, stack and system layout able to catch better performances (e.g. current densities, cells and stacks dimensions, stack pressurization).
The improved high temperature electrolyser technology must be tested in a relevant environment.
In agreement to the MAWP, targets related to efficiency, OPEX, pressure, lifetime and cost of hydrogen need to be addressed and fulfilled by the high temperature steam electrolysers covered by that topic.
Scope:
Proposals should focus on the development, and testing in a relevant environment, of a low-cost, high-temperature electrolyser system, targeting the following improvements which are in line with the MAWP targets, without compromising the other targets included in the MAWP:
In addition, the proposal should address at least one of the following optional targets:
The expected electrolysis system, including stack, balance of plant and power electronics, should be developed at a relevant scale. If an atmospheric system is considered, a minimum value of 50 kW electrical is considered, while it should exceed 10 kW in the case of a pressurized system.
Projects should feature:
Projects should further include the following analyses:
Testing should be done in accordance to the FCH JU harmonised testing procedures developed by the JRC in collaboration with European industry and researchers.
It is expected that the technology starts at TRL 3 and reaches TRL 5 at the end of the project.
The consortium should include at least one SOEC stack/module manufacturer, research institutions and academic groups.
Any safety-related event that may occur during execution of the project shall be reported to the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC), which manages the European hydrogen safety reference database, HIAD (dedicated mailbox JRC-PTT-H2SAFETY@ec.europa.eu).
The FCH 2 JU considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of up to EUR 3 million would allow the specific challenges to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.
Expected duration: 3 years
Expected Impact:
A step-change improvement in HT electrolysis, enabling additional commercial roll-out of HT electrolysers post 2025.
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