Project description
Bringing clean energy to Europe
The need to limit the effects of climate change will force Europe to pursue alternative energy sources such as hydrogen to meet its sustainability goals. Transportation is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and stands to benefit the most from the transition to hydrogen. However, current costs of this transition are prohibitively high due to the necessary infrastructure, requiring innovative solutions. UK-based company NanoSUN has developed the Pioneer Station, a simplified, cost-effective and scalable hydrogen station that promises to meet Europe's hydrogen needs. The EU-funded MOBHYLE project now aims to bring this solution to a wider market in order to demonstrate its benefits and help Europe's transition to clean energy.
Objective
This proposal makes the case that if the EU wishes to accomplish a clean energy transition to achieve its sustainability goals, it will, inter alia, require hydrogen at large scale. Transportation is a major contributor to climate change, responsible for ~32% of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU.
In transport, hydrogen is the most promising option for decarbonising trucks and buses; but the current prohibitive cost of refuelling infrastructure urgently calls for a paradigm shift in solution design. In response, NanoSUN has re-invented the hydrogen refuelling station to accelerate the adoption of hydrogen in transport, thereby helping to address at least four of the EU’s sustainability goals within the Green Deal.
NanoSUN’s solution is called the Pioneer station. It addresses the bottlenecks in the adoption of hydrogen in key transportation sectors. It eliminates complex and costly onboard compressors, uses field-proven cascade technology and is built into standard shipping containers for mobility. It is half the costs of alternatives and highly scalable.
The market opportunity for NanoSUN is ~€2.3 billion of refuelling equipment for every 1% of heavy-duty vehicles that switch to hydrogen fuel. The first 1% penetration is expected to be achieved by 2030, meaning that NanoSUN’s annual addressable market will reach €140 million by 2025 and increase quickly thereafter.
NanoSUN will leverage first-mover and cost-leadership advantages in mobile refuelling to capture significant early share. We have demonstrated market demand through obtaining sponsorship from Shell and support from other fuel giants like Westfalen and BOC.
NanoSUN needs the EIC funding to enable field trials across Europe, with potential customers, to demonstrate the benefits and accelerate the adoption of hydrogen in transport. We have a very strong team in place, with extensive expertise in industrial gases and fuel cells.
Fields of science
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2Coordinator
LA1 3SW LANCASTER
United Kingdom
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.