Company’s RuggedCellTM electrolyser ramps from 0 to 50,000 amperes in under 10 seconds, showing it can support the energy transition to renewables in the drive to net-zero emissions
Toronto (Dec. 8, 2021) – Hydrogen Optimized, a subsidiary of Key DH Technologies Inc., today announced it has achieved a world-first for alkaline water electrolysers by demonstrating the capability of its patent pending RuggedCell™ high-current unipolar electrolysis system to ramp from 0 to 50,000 amperes in less than 10 seconds. This breakthrough shows that RuggedCell™ technology can be used to stabilize electrical grids and optimize energy recovery from intermittent renewable power sources such as solar and wind.
Hydrogen Optimized President and CEO Andrew T.B. Stuart will discuss the breakthrough at the National Bank of Canada’s Green Revolution: 2nd Annual Hydrogen and CCUS Conference later today.
“We have exceeded our targets for rapidly fluctuating the power flowing through a RuggedCell™, including going from 0% to 100% in less than 10 seconds, and achieving stable operation at full power and subsequently at lower power levels,” Stuart said. “To this point, the consensus among Green Hydrogen experts worldwide has been that only PEM water electrolysers could rapidly absorb and shed electricity and thereby be used to stabilize variable electric power sources. We have now proven that RuggedCell™ alkaline technology, which is uniquely scalable to individual system deployments in the hundreds of megawatts, equals or betters PEM technology’s capability to handle variable power levels.”
Stuart added, “Deploying our technology at scale will help electrical grid operators manage the impact of replacing relatively stable power production from fossil fuels with unstable energy sources such as solar panels and wind turbines. This means our water electrolysis system has the capability to become a powerful and cost-effective tool to expand the deployment of renewable electricity and accelerate the energy transition toward net-zero carbon emissions.”
The RuggedCell™‘s rapid power load response rate contrasts sharply with low-current, low-power bipolar alkaline technology in the marketplace today. These systems are inherently limited in their range of power variability and take several minutes or more to ramp up and down. Furthermore, like PEM technology, individual bipolar alkaline modules are limited to smaller scale output.
The RuggedCell™ electrolyser as demonstrated is believed to be the largest water electrolysis cell in the world today. The technology is designed to meet the needs of the largest Green Hydrogen applications. Its capacity to rapidly shift hydrogen production rates in response to variations in the available power is vital to wind and solar power generation equipment providers, renewable power system designers and operators, renewable hydrogen project developers, and end users of Green Hydrogen.
Large-scale systems will be required by major industrial, chemical, utility and energy end users to significantly reduce their carbon emissions. Aurora Energy Research, Europe’s leading dedicated power analytics provider, projects that the global installed base of water electrolysers will grow one-thousand-fold from 0.2 GW today to more than 200 GW by 2040*. The firm also projects that “typical” electrolyser project sizes will grow to 100-500 MWs by 2025 and to 1 GW by 2030. Looking ahead, Hydrogen Optimized believes that its high-current unipolar RuggedCell™ technology could be a category-leading solution for Green Hydrogen production plants at the scale forecasted by Aurora.
About Hydrogen Optimized
Hydrogen Optimized is a private hydrogen technology company that develops and commercializes large-scale Green Hydrogen production systems. It is part of Key DH Technologies Inc., a group of innovation-driven businesses in the deuterium and hydrogen industries. As a sustainable energy conversion company, Hydrogen Optimized enables the conversion of green electricity into Green Hydrogen and the transformation of heavy fossil fuel-use industries into sustainability leaders. Using our patent pending high-current unipolar RuggedCellTM water electrolysis system, we seek to be the first water electrolysis company to supply an aggregate of 10 GW of hydrogen production equipment. Hydrogen Optimized’s Green Hydrogen production systems are targeted to major industrial, chemical, utility and energy end users. For more information on Hydrogen Optimized, please visit www.hydrogenoptimized.com.
About KEY DH Technologies Inc.
KEY DH Technologies develops innovation-driven businesses in the deuterium and hydrogen industries, serving global markets. KEY’s three main operating companies include: Hydrogen Optimized, a private hydrogen technology company that develops and commercializes the patent-pending RuggedCell™ high-current unipolar water electrolysis systems for the large-scale production of Green Hydrogen; Isowater®, a world-leading supplier of deuterium oxide to global customers in the life sciences, high technology and environmental science sectors; and deutraMed™, a breakthrough deuterium science and innovation company that provides clients with high-value deuterium-containing products for specialized applications along with IP-driven research and services. For more information, please visit www.keydht.com.
For more information:
Don Hogarth
Phone: 416-565-8920
Email: don@hogarthpr.com
