Lab-to-tech transition of the current best low temperature electrolyser technology for CO2 reduction to CO using solar energy

Project Information

SolarCO2Value

Grant agreement ID: 101099284

DOI

10.3030/101099284

Project closed

EC signature date 26 October 2022

Start date 1 December 2022

End date 31 May 2025

Funded under

• The European Innovation Council (EIC)

Total cost

€ 2 373 125,00

EU contribution

€ 2 373 125,00

Coordinated by

ECHEMICLES ZARTKORUEN MUKODO RESZVENYTARSASAG
Hungary

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SolarCO2Value (Lab-to-tech transition of the current best low temperature electrolyser technology for CO2 reduction to COusing solar energy)

Reporting period: 2023-12-01 to 2025-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

According to the European Green Deal, the European Commission aims at making Europe climate neutral by 2050. Such a political ambition, especially with regards to the chemical industry, requires a paradigm shift, supported by technological breakthroughs. One such change is to consider carbon dioxide (CO2) as a resource, rather than a pollutant. Still, no commercially available technologies have yet been developed at scale; and the potential to use renewable resources for direct CO2 conversion into valuable chemicals is underexplored. Our solution targets the efficient utilization of solar energy and CO2 by introducing a novel technology to produce chemicals and fuels from non-fossil fuel resources, based on our disruptive low temperature electrolyser stack for the direct conversion of CO2 and H2O.

Our objective is to become the number one electrolyser technology provider for plants producing valuable chemicals form waste CO2 using renewable energy sources (TRL=8-9) by 2030. To reach this long-term objective, we aim to pilot the first integrated plant that is able to transform waste CO2 to valuable chemicals (e-wax and e-kerosene) using photovoltaic power as the only energy source and prove the technoeconomic viability of the overall process (TRL=7) by 2027. Our project objective is to build and demonstrate the core technology of our proposed process, CO2 electrolysis to CO using photovoltaic electricity at operational environment (TRL=6) and get ready for future investments at the end of the SolarCO2Value project.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

We scaled-up successfully our existing CO2 electrolyser cell technology. We developed a detailed scale-up strategy and studied different assembly methods for a 25-times scale-up. We built up this large scale cell. For the operational test, we designed and built-up a dedicated test environment, first a smaller one for our medium size cell and a larger one for the large cell. Optimisation studies first were carried out on the medium size cell. In addition, we developed a multicell stack system, first at smaller scale, than with the scaled-up system. We examined the technological solutions necessary to build the cells in a stack and selected the most appropriate ones. Our operational tests demonstrated the high performance of the scale-up cell stack.

We designed and built a containerised system in 20 feet long standard container with all essential technological units, electronics and control system including the Human Machine Interface (HMI). Several functional tests were performed with the containerised system and essential certificates were obtained, including Factory Acceptance Test, Pressure Acceptance Certificate, tubing acceptance, and Explosion Protection Expert opinion. The containerised system was transported to the photovoltaic park in Szeged for test and validation.

The containerised system was connected to the local infrastructure at the PV farm and validated in the industrial environment. The operation was stable, reproducible and the system operated properly under dynamically changing conditions. We also performed Accelerated Stress Testing (AST) of the electrolyser. Degradation was observed only on the short-term. This initial degradation was found to be reversible and might even positively affect the long-term performance of the electrolyser.

We demonstrated the system during 14 stakeholder visits to potential end-users, collaboration partners and investors.

TEA and LCA studies indicated that the most economical way of producing syngas by means of CO2 electrolysis is to couple a very CO selective CO2 electrolyser with a water electrolyser delivering the required hydrogen.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

During SolarCO2Value project, we reached our objective as we developed, built and operated a containerised demonstrator scale CO2 electrolyser system (capable of processing 100 t CO2/year). We validated its performance in relevant environment (photovoltaic farm). This result is a genuine breakthrough in the field of Carbon capture and utilization (CCU); enhancing European leadership in this emerging market, and a significant contribution to Green Deal objectives.

In the first part of the project, we defined the plans for dissemination and exploitation activities carried out in the SolarCO2Value project. We concentrated on assessing the most relevant underlying market for the SolarCO2Value technology, the overall CO market, and to gain relevant insights into key market dynamics. We have first carried out a regional mapping of the CO market with Europe, the America, Asia and Middle East & Africa identified as the relevant geographies. We have also explored the main drivers and trend in our market, in particular those related to environmental policies and regulation.

In the second part of the project, we prepared a comprehensive business plan that has already been validated by and received positive feedback from prospective investors. We made active collaborations with key stakeholders in our value chain, including a Joint Development Agreement with Bosch, to ensure the viability of the project beyond the TRL targeted in the current transition project.

Regarding dissemination and communication, we have achieved or overachieved all target KPIs. We have prepared a wide range of communication and dissemination materials introducing the SolarCO2Value technology and our company. The SolarCO2Value logo was created, the dedicated project website (https://solarco2value.eu/) and Social Media sites were developed. We participated with a presentation at large number of conferences and expos. The first two peer reviewed publications have already been published, one is accepted, and another one is under peer review. Social media communication has also reached full stride, with over 100 posts in 2024-25.

We continued the national registration of our two patent families, which cover the main aspects of the SolarCO2Value technology and we filled 3 new parent applications during the project.

figure.jpg