Nel ASA and SFC Energy AG have formed a joint venture to create the world’s first integrated electrolyser and hydrogen fuel cell system for decentralized energy generation and storage.
The development will be hastened by utilizing each party’s mature products and established technology as the foundation for the combined offering.
“We are very excited to be joining forces with SFC Energy to jointly extend our industrial offering for environmentally friendly, decentralized energy generation and storage. With their proven track record and years of experience, we see a significant potential in developing solutions together to serve the distributed power generation market, where we see good growth prospects” says Jon André Løkke, CEO of Nel ASA.
The alliance will focus on industrial solutions that will enable the replacement of inefficient diesel generators with more efficient systems based on hydrogen fuel cells and green hydrogen production via electrolysis. SFC Energy and Nel will first focus on applications requiring up to 50kW of power and a daily running time of two to ten hours, which may be utilized as reliable emergency power generators for mission-critical applications. The partnership’s medium-term goal is to build systems with a power output of up to 500 kW for the telecom, data center, and auxiliary power unit (APU) markets. The parties intend to launch the first goods in the second half of 2022.
Nel’s electrolysers will generate the green hydrogen required for the complete system by utilizing renewable energy sources such as solar or wind power. This is contained within a tank. When electrical energy is required, the SFC Energy hydrogen fuel cell will reliably and climate neutrally convert the gas back to hydrogen. The integrated solution has the potential to replace diesel generators with substantial CO2 emissions, thereby contributing significantly to the world economy’s race to zero and decarbonization.
“Through this development partnership, we aim to tap into the major market opportunities in environmentally friendly energy generation systems based on hydrogen and fuel cells. This brings together two market and technology leaders to focus their strengths and provide a viable response to the major challenges of climate change. With the world’s first integrated electrolyser and hydrogen fuel cell system, we are addressing a wide range of applications such as critical and communication infrastructure as well as smart grid applications” says Dr. Peter Podesser, CEO of SFC Energy
