EH2 plans massive hydrogen electrolyzer factory
May 12, 2023EH2, a hydrogen electrolyzer manufacturer, has announced plans to build a new production facility in Massachusetts that could almost double the world’s current hydrogen electrolyzer manufacturing capacity. The facility will produce 100MW proton exchange membrane electrolyzers, which are much larger than the more typical 1MW and 5MW units currently available on the market. EH2 believes that with larger equipment, it will be able to better address the needs of industries like steel, cement, and chemical manufacturing. The company is also planning a second facility, though no timeline has been established yet. The first facility is expected to begin equipment production for demonstration by the end of 2024 and reach full production the following year.
If the facility in Massachusetts is the size predicted, it will almost double global capacity.
EH2 has announced a new hydrogen electrolyzer production factory in Massachusetts which has the potential to almost double the current manufacturing capacity worldwide.
On top of that, even before this first facility is built, the company is already planning another one.
EH2 had already been working on a future of hydrogen electrolyzer manufacturing before the Biden administration announced the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, said Beth Deane, chief legal officer at EH2. Now its goal is to use economies of sale to be able to reduce the cost of H2 production by way of producing larger proton exchange membrane electrolyzers.
They are aiming to produce 100MW units instead of the 1MW and 5MW units that are the more typical sizes on today’s market. The company also intends to produce electrolyzers that will be able to boost and ease H2 production more quickly based on the availability of intermittent sources of renewable electricity.
The company feels that with bigger hydrogen electrolyzer equipment, it can overcome many challenges.
“Electrolyzers right now are available on a scale that is very difficult to bring them to what is needed in the industry, in terms of what you need if you are really going to address steel, cement and chemical manufacturing,” said Deane. “The size of the electrolyzer needs to be much bigger.”
That said, with the new production tax credits for low-carbon H2 and the Inflation Reduction Act, the company began receiving more orders from customers seeking the equipment they need for upcoming green H2 production facilities, said Dean. As a result of this spike in demand, EH2 accelerated the timetable for the completion of its first factory and started planning the construction of a second.
EH2 is on the hunt for a location.
According to the company, it is currently on the hunt for an appropriate location for the second facility, though it has not yet established a firm timeline.
The first hydrogen electrolyzer manufacturing factory is located near the company’s R&D facility in Massachusetts. It’s slated to begin equipment production for demonstration by the close of 2024. It should reach full production the following year.
Join in the conversation – See Below: [forminator_poll id=”58027″]
How will you distribute the H2 yo point of use
Very true, perfect size for the trucking industry transformation as well. Your amazing hydrogen electrolysers could be one of the components in a nano-rippled graphene H2 Microgrid bringing hydrogen fueling capabilities across the US. H2 Microgrids and H2 Fuel Cell Microgrids working in tandem will provide needed hydrogen and the electrical capacity to make this important energy change worldwide. Please see other comments in Fuel Cell News articles and work with these other great companies to make this change quickly.
Just producing more electrolysers will not alone reduce the cost of hydrogen; the cost of the electricity to power them is the main factor. The cost of producing hydrogen can also be reduced by using the energy of waste steam to contribute towards the energy cost of splitting the water molecule with steam electrolysers that are not PEM but use solid oxides (SOEC) see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_oxide_electrolyzer_cell
Your company needs to work parallel in development of both commercial and domestic units.
The development of a single use unit that could produce enough H2 to power a whole house thru a H2 generator, store H2 and file up a H2 SUV would be in high demand.
Just an idea.