B. Pivovar
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
United States
Keywords: hydrogen, fuel cell
Summary:
The H2NEW consortium is a Department of Energy (DOE)-Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Office (HFTO) funded effort with a vision is to enable $2/kg hydrogen production by 2025 through large-scale production of hydrogen by low-temperature acidic polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolysis and high-temperature oxide-ion-conducting solid oxide electrolysis (HTE). The H2NEW effort has seen dramatic increase in emphasis with the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and the focus on Clean Hydrogen Electrolysis. This has resulted in a number of Workshops on topics relevant to electrolysis including liquid alkaline electrolysis, high temperature electrolysis manufacturing and advance materials for polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyzers. This presentation will discuss the current state of electrolysis R&D and research advances accomplished with H2NEW. H2NEW focuses on meeting the cost, performance and durability of electrolysis systems through an increased understanding of the factors that contribute to these areas. This includes the impact of operating conditions, materials selection, and component design and integration. Techno-economic and systems analysis help provide guidance for the primary components of interest based on cost and trade-offs associated with electricity prices as they relate to hydrogen levelized costs. The consortium has a focus on durability without compromising efficiency while dramatically reducing costs. The consortium has a task based structure focusing on durability, performance and scale-up the key issues associated with decreasing electrolysis system capital costs. The presentation will review recent advances in each of these task areas and present upcoming opportunities and needs in this space to enable cost competitive hydrogen through electrolysis.