Description du projet
L’avenir de l’hydrogène vert s’annonce prometteur
L’un des grands défis mondiaux du XXIe siècle est la fourniture durable de la demande énergétique croissante liée à l’activité humaine. L’hydrogène vert, ou l’hydrogène produit à partir de ressources énergétiques renouvelables, est un concurrent important dans la course, de sorte que les électrolyseurs constituent un domaine d’investissement clé pour de nombreux pays et économies. Les électrolyseurs décomposent l’eau en hydrogène et en oxygène, en utilisant de l’électricité. Parmi les trois principales technologies sur le marché, l’électrolyse de l’eau par membrane échangeuse d’anions (AEMWE) combine les avantages des deux autres, mais elle n’est pas encore concurrentielle sur le plan commercial, en termes de performances. Le projet NEWELY, financé par l’UE, prévoit de redéfinir l’AEMWE, en améliorant considérablement son efficacité grâce à des performances deux fois supérieures aux techniques de pointe actuelles. La nouvelle pile à combustible permettra de réduire considérablement le coût de l’électrolyse de l’eau, ce qui renforcera la compétitivité de l’hydrogène vert.
Objectif
Green hydrogen is one of the most promising solutions for the decarbonisation of society. Alkaline water electrolysis (AWE) is already a mature technology but its large footprint makes it inadequate for producing the energy vector at GW scale. Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) on the other hand is compact but its dependence on iridium and other expensive materials poses a serious threat for up-scaling. Anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE) combines the benefits of both technologies. However, its key performance indicators (KPI) do not reach commercial requirements and are lacking competitiveness. NEWELY project aims to redefine AEMWE, surpassing the current state of AWE and bringing it one step closer to PEMWE in terms of efficiency but at lower cost. The three main technical challenges of AEMWE: membrane, electrodes and stack are addressed by 3 small-medium-enterprises (SME) with their successful markets related to each of these topics. They are supported by a group of 7 renowned R&D centres with high expertise in polymer chemistry and low temperature electrolysis. The SMEs and one of the largest hydrogen companies in the world will oversee that the new developments have a clear commercial perspective, placing Europe at the lead of AEMWE technology in three years. In this period , the NEWELY consortium will develop a prototypic 5-cell stack with elevated hydrogen output pressure. It will contain highly conductive and stable anionic membranes as well as efficient and durable low-cost electrodes. It will reach twice the performance of the state of the art of AEMWE operating with pure water feedstock only. The targeted performance of the NEWELY prototype will be validated in a 2,000 hours endurance test. The new AEMWE stack will lead to a significant cost reduction of water electrolysis having a relevant impact in the cost of green hydrogen.
Champ scientifique
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
- H2020-EU.3.3. - SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy Main Programme
- H2020-EU.3.3.8.2. - Increase the energy efficiency of production of hydrogen mainly from water electrolysis and renewable sources while reducing operating and capital costs, so that the combined system of the hydrogen production and the conversion using the fuel cell system can compete with the alternatives for electricity production available on the market
Régime de financement
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinateur
51147 Koln
Allemagne