NOAH2 · Novel SOE architectures for hydrogen production

Hydrogen is a key energy vector in a future decarbonised economy. Large-scale application in numerous sectors, such as transport, iron & steel plants, and the chemical industry, requires efficient and sustainable production routes of green hydrogen. Electrolysis of water/steam using electricity from renewable sources like wind and solar is the solution. High temperature or solid oxide electrolysis (SOEL) has significantly attractive features, which allow for lower CAPEX and OPEX, thus facilitating commercial breakthrough: High electrical efficiencies approaching 100%, cost competitive, non-noble materials, and operational flexibility. SOEL challenges that need to be solved are increase of lifetime and reduction of degradation for realistic applications, the ceramic brittleness of most mature SOEL configurations, which challenge rapid operational strategies when integrated with renewable energy sources, and scaling costs for the required Mega to Gigawatt volumes.NOAH2 aims at overcoming these challenges. The overall goal of the NOAH2 project is to provide a robust, cost-competitive, flexible, and durable stack concept for hydrogen production at intermediate temperatures through innovative electrode, cell, and stack designs. NOAH2 will boost the electrolysis performance of solid oxide cells & stacks significantly beyond State-of-the-Art (SoA) through a combination of optimised structures and highly active materials, with a focus on reducing critical raw materials (CRM) and manufacturability using well-established large scale routes for solid oxide technology. The NOAH2 stack architecture relies on a metal based monolithic concept with infiltrated electrodes.NOAH2 will outline a path towards commercialisation, provide a sustainability classification with emphasis on substituting CRM, provide an assessment of commercialization potential compared to SoA SOEL, PEM, and Alkaline electrolysers, and identify potential industrial players for high-volume manufacture.