Electrical Hydrogen desires to handle these points by growing electrolyzers which have about 10 instances the capability of right now’s customary units whereas additionally being extra inexpensive and environment friendly.
The corporate is already working a pair of electrolyzer crops in California, together with a one-megawatt facility in San Carlos and a 10-megawatt undertaking in San Jose. In April, Electrical Hydrogen opened an electrolyzer manufacturing unit in Devens, Massachusetts, which is able to crank out its first line of 100-megawatt electrolyzers. The corporate additionally raised $380 million in funding in 2023 from backers together with BP, United Airways, and Microsoft, making it the primary electrolyzer firm to be valued at over $1 billion.
Key indicators
- Trade: Hydrogen
- Based: 2020
- Headquarters: Natick, Massachusetts, USA
- Notable reality: Two of the corporate’s three cofounders got here from First Photo voltaic, a photo voltaic panel producer that’s additionally featured on this 12 months’s record.
Potential for influence
To sluggish the tempo of local weather change, we have to drastically scale back our use of fossil fuels. Closely polluting industries like fertilizer and chemical manufacturing are notoriously troublesome to wash up. Fertilizer alone accounted for two% of world emissions in 2022, in accordance with a research printed in Scientific Experiences. It’s additionally difficult to get rid of emissions from sure varieties of transportation, together with transport and aviation, primarily as a result of fuels can merely retailer extra power for a given weight than right now’s batteries.
It’s these sectors the place hydrogen reveals essentially the most promise, as a result of it may be made into gas that produces solely water vapor as a by-product. However it’s onerous to make clear hydrogen cost-competitive with fossil fuels.
Caveats
Electrical Hydrogen might want to show that its 100-megawatt electrolyzer techniques can function reliably at a low value. To make low-emission hydrogen, the electrolyzers might want to use loads of renewable power, which can not all the time be obtainable. As well as, Electrical Hydrogen doesn’t share many particulars publicly about how its expertise works, which makes it troublesome to gauge the corporate’s claims and progress.